Court Report

Self-employed construction contractors fined following workplace death

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland has successfully led a prosecution for breaches of health and safety legislation against two self-employed construction contractors from Lisburn and Dundrod following the death in 2020 of another contractor who fell from height during a re-roofing project.

Both of the accused had earlier pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced at Lisburn Magistrates’ Court where they were each fined £1000 in relation to health and safety failings. Lee Dougan, an Inspector with HSENI’s Major Investigation Team said: “All employers, including self-employed contractors, have a legal responsibility to plan and organise work to ensure it can be carried out safely. If work at height cannot be avoided, a safe means of access must be provided such as mobile elevated work platforms or suitably constructed scaffolding.” The HSENI investigation established that all three men were working on the replacement of a shed roof at a farm in Hillsborough. During the construction work, the deceased fell approximately 4.4 metres from an unguarded platform and tragically died at the scene. The platform consisted of three timber planks spanning an internal shed wall and a cage supported by a telescopic handler. There were no control measures in place to prevent falls from height during the construction work and the method of work employed was inherently unsafe. Immediately following the incident, a health and safety inspector attended the scene and served enforcement notices prohibiting any further work at height activities from taking place until appropriate safety measures were put in place.

Worker broke his back in 2ft fall from forklift truck

A logistics company has been fined £400,000 after a worker broke his back when he fell from a forklift truck. The injured man was one of two employees who were loading a shipping container.

To reach the highest pallets inside the container, the man who was hurt had been lifted up on the forks of the forklift to stack boxes on top of an already wrapped pallet. He fell approximately two foot and landed on the corner of a pallet on the floor resulting in multiple spinal fractures. The company had a risk assessment for working at height, but it was not suitable or sufficient and did not correctly assess the working environment or correct control measures. In sentencing, the judge said that even those who weren’t familiar with health and safety would know that this was an accident waiting to happen and it was only good fortune that the injured person was not paralysed or killed.

Newry construction contractor fined following fatal fall from height

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland has successfully led a prosecution against a self-employed construction contractor who pleaded guilty to one health and safety offence and was fined a total of £2,500 at Newry Magistrates court.

He was overseeing the replacement of perspex roof lights at a farm building in Camlough, Newry when the deceased fell through the fragile roof structure and died at the incident scene from his injuries. In this case, no control measures were in place to prevent falls from height or to avoid working on the fragile roof structure. Following the incident, health and safety inspectors attended the incident scene and a prohibition notice was served that prohibited any further work at height activities from continuing until appropriate safety measures were put in place.

Operators of gold mine fined following health and safety failures

The HSENI) has successfully led a prosecution against the operator of a gold mine in County Tyrone who was fined £120,000.

The court in Dungannon heard that in July 2018, mine employees were exposed to risk as a result of a fall of rocks from the roof of an underground roadway within the mine. The unstable portion then migrated to the surface causing an inrush of water to enter and flood a portion of the mine, further exposing employees to the risk of drowning. HSENI Principal Inspector Brian Pryce said: “Mine operators must ensure that suitable ground control measures and precautions are in place to prevent falls of ground and inrushes. These measures and precautions must be continually monitored and reviewed. “The failure of the mine operator to ensure that suitable measures were put in place resulted in employees being exposed to unnecessary risk which could have resulted in fatalities.”

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