Companies fined after man’s death
Companies fined after man’s death
An architect and construction company has admitted that subcontractors who worked on a Somerset building site were not safely managed, leading to the death of a worker.
The fatality led to Express Park Construction Company (EPCC), of Harley Street, London being prosecuted and it pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Regulations 13, and 14, of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994, which require designers to take safety considerations into account, were breached by the architects involved, Oxford Architects Partnership, of Hinksey Hill, Oxford, the company admitted.
EPCC was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay costs of £68,000 and Oxford Architects Partnership was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay costs of £60,000 at Bristol Crown Court.
The court heard that on January 26, 2005, David Cairns, 64, was working for EPCC sub-contractors H&F Air Conditioning, at the newly-built 'Exchange' building at Express Park in Bridgwater, Somerset.
Cairns was working on the air conditioning plant, which was built on a platform accessed via a ladder at the edge of a flat roof. The roof only had a low parapet, which was not high enough to prevent Mr Cairns falling nine metres to the ground.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Sue Adsett, said: "This is a tragic case where both the failings of the construction firm and the architects led to Cairns' death."
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