Lima Construction Limited has been fined £50,000 after Antoni Rodrigues died in 2022
Antonio suffered a fall from height from an external scaffolding platform through an open window opening.
The incident took place at a former department store in New Malden’s high street, which was being converted into a mixed-use commercial and residential unit.
Antonio fell more than three metres
Landing on a concrete floor on 27 July 2022, Antonio was rushed to hospital where he tragically died from his injuries on 1 August.
The HSE investigated shortly afterwards, finding that the window void had been left open as the doors that were intended to be installed there were delivered damaged, and the company had not installed any protections. Hours after Antonio fell, protective boarding was installed.
The investigations concluded that the boards could and should have been installed, or scaffolding guard rails installed, as soon as the risk was created. Furthermore, Lima Construction had not ensured that the legally required weekly scaffolding inspections had been carried out after 5 July 2022, and so the opportunity to identify the risks left by the open window voids was never identified.
Pleading guilty of contravening Regulation 13(1) of The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, Lima Construction Limited was fined £50,000, and ordered to pay costs of £11,347.
Falls from height remain a top killer in construction
HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said: “This is a case where a company who generally tried to have good standards of health and safety, failed to react effectively to an unusual situation and there were tragic consequences.
“Falls from height are one of the leading causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries in the UK. Employers and those in control of any work at height activity should ensure a sensible, pragmatic approach when considering precautions for work at height.
“As there was no CCTV and nobody witnessed the incident, we will never know exactly what caused Mr Rodrigues to fall. But if the boards added shortly afterwards had been in place, then there would have been no opening for him to fall through in the first place.”
HSE provide guidance on working at height here and more information on the legislation used in this case can be found here.
According to research from Astutis, the construction industry is the deadliest industry in the UK with little-to-no improvement since 2015. Falls from height ranked as the top cause of fatal accidents. Read more here.
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