Director fined after young worker injured in fall from height

Wayne McKnight (trading as RJE Construction) has been fined for safety breaches after a 17-year-old worker fell from a mezzanine floor to the ground below.

Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard that, on 28th February 2019, the worker and two others were building the mezzanine floor at a site  in Neepsend Lane, 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.

Wayne McKnight (trading as RJE Construction) Park Crescent, Sunning Dale, Ascot Berkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2015. Mr McKnight has been fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,300

After the hearing, HSE inspector Sarah Robinson 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.”

 

 

 

Notes to Editors:

  1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk[1]
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/ [2]
  3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk[3]
  4. Please see the link below to the page on HSE’s website that is the best guide to doing it the right way: www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/workinhatheight

 

 

 

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