Property developer ordered to pay £30k after HSE investigation

A property developer has been hit with a fine of £30,000 following an incident in which one of its employees was left paralysed from the chest down.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Strata Homes Yorkshire Limited following an investigation into the workplace accident in April 2009 when Anton Burrows suffered life-changing injuries.

The firm subsequently pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 - which replaced all previous legal guidelines on lifting - and was fined £30,000 as well as being ordered to pay more that £16,000 in costs.

Mr Burrows was working as part of a bricklaying team at one of the company's developments in Huddersfield and was hurt as he helped a driver of a forklift truck to lift a steel beam onto two brick pillars.

The beam - which weighed 660 pounds - fell from its intended location and landed on top of Mr Burrows, causing him spinal injuries that now mean he is quadriplegic.

Posted by Helen Jones
 

31/08/2010 16:19