Heavy Fine Follows Site Safety Breach

A County Down construction company has been heavily fined £40,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of health and safety legislation.

Seapark Construction 2002 Ltd were investigated following an incident where a 23-year-old labourer, Mr Robinson was seriously injured as a result of a fall when carrying out work at height at Seapark Lane, Holywood, Co Down on 15 December 2004.

Prior to the fall, Mr Robinson had been standing on a pallet, raised up on the forks of a telescopic materials handling machine, transferring mortar from a tub through a window at second floor level.

Judge Gibson QC, said the company failed to protect Mr Robinson from falling and the system of work adopted was clearly unsafe. He accepted it was an isolated incident and that since the incident the company had taken steps to improve the management of health and safety, and to ensure that such as incident does not reoccur. In imposing the £40,000 fine, he said the degree of negligence was high and the injuries sustained by Mr Robinson were very severe and permanent, therefore the penalty imposed had to reflect this.

Following the hearing, Ken Logan, Principal Construction Inspector (HSENI), said: "This was a serious incident that could easily have resulted in a worker being killed. The system of work employed in this incident was totally unacceptable. Falls when carrying out work at height is the number one killer in the construction industry."

Mr Logan concluded: "The construction industry must learn from this incident and take firm action to ensure it is not repeated. Work at height must be properly planned and the plans fully implemented."

(JM)