A specialist groundworks contractor has been fined after a worker was paralysed when he fell 11 metres down a stairwell at a football stadium after the concrete floor he was working on collapsed.
Peterborough Magistrates’ Court heard that on 14 June 2016, workers were constructing a new hospitality and seating stand at the stadium of Watford Football Club. The concrete floor and associated formwork collapsed, causing a number of workers to fall. Most were able to cling to the structure to escape serious injury, however, Ashley Grealish fell approximately 11 metres down the mouth of a stairwell to the basement below, sustaining multiple injuries including spinal damage, which caused permanent paralysis from the waist down.
An investigation by Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company’s temporary works management system was lacking. The contractor should have had a suitable design for the temporary works, taking proper account of the vertical load and the need for horizontal stability. There should also have been a robust system to check the temporary works were properly installed and thoroughly assessed before starting to load it with the wet concrete to form the floor slab.
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