Two construction firms have been fined a total of £10,000 after a dozen roof trusses fell on a plasterer at a building site near Wolverhampton.
Kent Road Construction Ltd and Mr SK Sharma, trading as Fortmere Construction, were fined £6,000 and £4,000 respectively and ordered to pay total costs of more than £5,000 at a hearing at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court.
The court heard that the 44-year-old worker was getting off a lorry trailer when several packs of roof trusses fell onto him, severely fracturing his right leg, elbow, hand and thumb.
A dozen of the large wooden structures, weighing a total of 400kg, pinned him to the ground and then a larger heavier pack also fell towards him but hit a road sign and deflected away.
“He received very serious injuries as a result of this incident and had the falling timber hit his head, he would almost certainly have died,” said Health & Safety Executive inspector Martin Overstall.
“In this case, the contractor failed to plan, supervise and carry out a safe lifting operation. The client company had not appointed a co-ordinator, one of whose roles would have been to advise the client on the competence of the contractor.”
Both construction companies admitting breaching health and safety regulations.
