A construction company from Cambridgeshire has been fined after one of its employees suffered severe head injuries which blinded him in one eye.

On 3 March 2010, builder and fitter John Ingram was working outside on a project to refurbish an agricultural building in Newgate Street, Hertfordshire. He was using a tower scaffold erected on top of a freight container and fell to the ground while trying to climb down.

Mr Ingram, 55, of Lode in Cambridgeshire suffered facial fractures, cuts and bruising and was in a coma for several days. He was unable to work for eight months after the incident and has since only returned to work on a part-time basis.


His employer Balsham (Buildings) Ltd, structural steel fabricators and cladding contractors, of High Street, Balsham, Cambridge, appeared at Watford Magistrates' court today and admitted to two breaches of health and safety legislation:

• Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for which is was fined £7,000
• Work at Height Regulations 2005 - Regulation 4(1) for which it was fined £7,000

Magistrates also ordered the company to pay £8832.30 in costs.

While investigating Mr Ingram's fall, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors found that the internal works on the project had been planned and undertaken safely, with a scissor lift provided to enable employees to work at height - the same had not been provided for the external works.

(CD/GK)