A Mansfield-based construction company has been fined £40,000 after a builder was left paralysed from the chest down after falling through a ceiling at a house renovation in Derbyshire.
Andrew Clifford, 51, had been working alone installing first-floor joists during construction of a house on Main Road in Dronfield. He was carrying out the work on behalf of Paul Freeman Ltd, a company he had worked with for around 20 years.
On the morning of 31 October 2022, Clifford slipped and fell from the first floor to the ground below and was left unable to move. He remained lying face down on the floor for around six hours before a delivery driver found him. He judged the time by hearing hourly news bulletins on his radio.
Clifford spent nearly five months in hospital, with the injuries to his spinal cord so serious they left him paralysed from the chest down, with only limited movement in his hands and arms.
Life-changing impact
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Paul Freeman Ltd failed to ensure that work at height had been properly planned and, as such, no measures had been implemented to prevent falls during the construction of the first floor.
Clifford had not been provided with suitable instruction as to how the work should be carried out and was therefore left to work this out on his own.
Paul Freeman Ltd of Synergy House, Acorn Business Park, Commercial Gate, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Derby Magistrates’ Court on 4 November 2024. It was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,263.
Describing the impact the incident has had on his everyday life, Clifford said: “I can’t do anything I used to love doing before. Simple things like doing the gardening, washing the car and jobs around the house.
“I can’t even wash or dress myself now. I haven’t been upstairs in my house since the accident – my wife and three daughters all sleep upstairs and I sleep alone downstairs.”
Working at height remains one of the leading causes of death in the construction industry, according to HSE data. Official guidance on minimising the risks associated with it can be found here.
