Demolition company, G Baskerville Ltd, of Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,000.
The case arose from an incident in which an unnamed man was using a power saw at Barnfields Industrial Estate in Staffordshire, when he fell from the first floor through the side of the building to the ground in October 2008.
The HSE investigation showed the walls of the building had been removed and there was an inadequately positioned steel girder around the sides.
HSE Inspector Guy Dale said: "Although there was a horizontal steel girder around the sides of the building, there were still substantial gaps and there was a significant risk that other workers could also have fallen four metres to the ground below.
"The injured party sustained serious injuries from the fall. He had to be sedated for three weeks and spent a further three weeks in hospital. At one stage his injuries were believed to be life threatening."
"It is vital that if workers have to work at height that there are adequate barriers erected to prevent them from falling."
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