Fall from height leaves worker paralysed

A Fall from height leaves worker paralysed from waist down

Recently, Southwark Crown Court  fined a construction company £110,000 and ordered to pay £16,620 in costs following a worker who suffered spinal injuries after falling eight metres through an unguarded window space, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.

The building was undergoing renovation works and had the windows removed leaving open spaces for several weeks whilst the renovation works were completed and no provisions had been put in place to prevent a fall through the open voids left. The worker was connecting a temporary electricity supply, lost his balance and fell through one of the open voids eight metres onto a concrete floor.

Fall from height leaves worker paralysed

The Court ruled that non-guarding of the windows posed a clear danger and had put the construction workers and sub-contractors at unnecessary risk as anyone could have fallen through them in a similar way.
The construction company was fined accordingly after pleading guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Fall from height leaves worker paralysed.