Engie Regeneration (Apollo) Limited, of Benton Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. It has been fined £800,000 with more than £17,518 in costs.
Superior Roofing and Building Services Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 4(1)(a) and 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It has been fined £300,000 with over £11,693 in costs.
Southwark Crown Court heard how Engie Regeneration were carrying out a programme of remedial refurbishment works at Du Cane Estate, following an extensive refurbishment project some years earlier, and that the top floor balcony walkways throughout the estate needed to be replaced as part of these works.
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The contractor appointed Superior Roofing and Building Services to carry out the work, which got underway in June 2014. In August that year, both companies became aware that the balcony replacement work involved exposing, then working around, a fragile surface as operatives partially fell through the cement soffit within the balcony.
On 19 June 2015, the female tenant was injured when, as she was trying to gain access to her flat, she fell 5.5 metres through a fragile cement sheet to the balcony walkway below. She suffered serious injuries, including a pelvis fractured in five places.
The balcony walkway was the tenant's sole access to and from the flat. Despite construction workers had been working on it for the previous four days, the tenant had not been informed of the work or of any associated risks. There were no physical barriers in place to prevent her from stepping into the balcony walkway.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Engie Regeneration had failed to , manage, monitor, and coordinate the balcony refurbishment works to ensure the work was carried out without risks to the health and safety of their operatives or members of the public. In addition, Superior Roofing and Building Services were found to have failed to select suitable and sufficient control measures to prevent operatives or members of the public falling from height during the works.
HSE added it was only after the incident in 2015 that the companies put in place sufficient steps to protect workers and members of the public from falling from height.
Speaking after the case, HSE Inspector Sharon Boyd said: "This incident could easily have been avoided if the companies had ensured that workers and members of the public were protected. Companies should be aware that they are at risk of being prosecuted by the HSE if they do not do what is reasonable to protect people."
(LM)
