Company Director Ordered to Pay Fines After Worker Fell From Highest Residential Building in Wales

A company boss has been told by Swansea Crown Court that he must pay £25,000 after the untimely death of an employee who plummeted 62 feet to his death after falling from a tower complex in 2008.

The managing director of the construction company was also condemned by Judge Thomas for his efforts in trying to conceal his true financial status. He said: “The defendant deliberately set out to conceal and obfuscate the process.”

The employee, a 40-year-old scaffolder and father of two from Gilfach Goch, died of multiple injuries when he fell through a hole covered by a cement board.

It is not clear who was responsible for the board covering but it was established that the construction company had not carried out the necessary health and safety risk assessments.

The Health and Safety Executive’s representative said that the hole he fell through was previously home to a set of ladders and was not safe enough to hold someone’s weight.

The construction company was a subcontractor of a major national construction company and was fined just £82 at the same hearing. Shortly after it folded after experiencing company debts.

When the judge delivered the sentencing he said that it had been particularly challenging given the difficulties encountered when investigating the company director’s financial details.

The company director from Bristol was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs. He admitted to failing Health and Safety legislation on two counts both of which concerned not ensuring the safety of workers.

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Published 11th February 2015.