Engineering company fined after 11 metre fall from height

An engineering company has been fined for failing to manage work at height safety, after an employee working at a HS2 construction site fell and fractured their skull, jaw, hip and pelvis.

The 57-year-old man was working as a mechnical engineer for EMC Elite Engineering Services Ltd, repairing a conveyor at their Chalfont Lane site in West Hyde.

As part of the repair works, stair treads had been removed in the conveyor’s stairway to ensure it could be supported by a crane. This left a gap in the stairway, which the man stepped through.

He fell 11 metres, landing on the concrete floor below, suffering a fractured pelvis, skull, hip, jaw and two broken wrists. His injuries meant he spent two months in hospital, requiring surgery to insert six plates in his face.

Investigators from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that EMC Elite Engineering Services Ltd failed to ensure the work at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised, and carried out in a manner that was as safe as reasonably practicable.

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The worker said in his victim personal statement:

“The injuries I sustained have had a massive impact on my life and some of these will be permanent. The impact on my family relationships has been massive. My wife has become my carer.

“My own behaviours have changed. I am quicker to anger and get easily frustrated. I get very impatient too. My focus has been affected and I struggle to keep up with a task or maintain a conversation.”

Appearing at St Albans Magistrates Court on 15 July 2024, EMC Elite Engineering Services Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £52,500 and ordered to pay £6,871.12 in costs.

HSE Inspector Martin Paren said after the sentencing:

“This incident led to an employee suffering multiple injuries that will affect him for the rest of his life. If his employer had properly planned, instructed and supervised the work then this incident could have easily been prevented.”