Construction company Trumax Building has been fined £10,000 for safety breaches after an employee under the age of 18 fell 2.6 metres through a stairway on a building site in Scunthorpe.
Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 18 May 2018, the junior bricklater was working on the first floor of a house being built at a development property on North Street in West Butterwick. He was using a trowel to remove excess mortar from the back of breeze blocks, when he stepped backwards and fell through an unprotected stairway opening onto the concrete ground floor. He suffered two fractured ribs and contusions.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Trumax Building had failed to install a proprietary guardrail system or traditional scaffold guardrails around the perimeter of the opening.
Trumax Building of Kelfield, Doncaster pleaded guilty to contravening Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £803 in costs.
HSE inspector Stuart Whitesmith said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices, particularly to protect inexperienced workers.
“In this case someone suffered serious injuries which could been easily avoided by installing guardrails around the opening, to prevent workers falling from height.”
