A construction company has appeared in Airdrie Sheriff Court on health and safety charges after a worker was left paralysed following an accident at a building site in Kilsyth.
The construction company in question had apparently been sub-contracted to lay metal deck flooring during the construction of a new health centre in Kilsyth. As one of the scaffolders was moving scaffolding components he stood on a section of decking that had been put in place by the construction company. The decking sheet gave way and the man fell more than four metres to the ground.
He suffered serious injuries to his spinal cord and has been left paralysed from the neck down following the incident.
When the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted its investigation it found the metal deck sheets on the first level of the building had not been secured properly and the access to the first level of the decking was not adequately controlled, allowing non-decking workers onto the deck.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 3 (1) and 33 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £105,000.
“This is a tragic incident, which has had a devastating effect on a young man’s life,” commented HSE inspector Graeme McMinn. “The accident could have been avoided if the Structural Metal Decks Ltd had taken appropriate safety precautions and ensured the decking sheets were properly secured.”
Falls from height are an all too common cause of injury in the workplace. HSE figures show that these types of falls were responsible for just over a quarter of all fatal injuries (37 cases) in 2015/16. Falls from height were also responsible for 6% of self-reported non-fatal injuries.
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