A building company and its director have been fined a total of £30,000 after a worker fell nearly thirty feet from scaffolding at a building site in Llanfairfechan, sustaining severe injuries.
The Cheshire based company, which subsequently went into liquidation, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,835.
The company's director pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £10,000.
Llandudno Magistrates' Court heard that a builder was working on scaffolding at a site in Llanfairfechan on 4 December 2007 when the incident happened.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the employee was carrying out work to replace a lintel, when he fell from the scaffolding. He fractured his pelvis in three places, broke some teeth and bruised his pelvis and groin.
Following the hearing a HSE Inspector said:
"Falling from a height of around nine metres, the employee was extremely lucky to survive. It's incredible that he managed to walk away with broken bones.
"Both the company and the director failed in their duty to provide a safe system of work, including a lack of suitable means to prevent falls from the scaffolding. The director also failed to properly supervise his staff.
"Falls from height remain the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of major injury and construction companies must not leave safety of their workers as an after-thought, which could lead to tragic consequences."
More than 4,000 workers suffered a major injury as a result of a fall from height in 2008/09. HSE's Shattered Lives campaign aims to highlight the dangers of slips, trips and falls in the workplace.