Director fined after young worker injured in fall from height

27th May 2021

A Director of a Construction company has been fined for safety breaches after a 17-year-old worker fell from a mezzanine floor to the ground below.

The Court heard that, on February 2019, the worker and two others were building the mezzanine floor on a site in Sheffield. The injured person stepped on a loose board and fell 2.8 metres to the ground below, sustaining cuts and bruises.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that safety nets had not been put in place before boarding commenced. No other fall from height protection was present to prevent or mitigate falls through the mezzanine floor.

The Director pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2015. The Director has been fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,300.

After the hearing, the HSE inspector commented: “Falls from height often result in life-changing or fatal injuries, which thankfully did not eventuate here. In most cases, these incidents are needless and could be prevented by properly planning the work to ensure that effective preventative and protective measures are in place.

“This incident could have easily been prevented if the company had installed safety nets prior to work starting on the mezzanine.”