A construction worker barely survived being hit with a 10kg stone which fell three metres from scaffolding onto his head while he wasn’t wearing a hard hat.

The self-employed worker aged 56 suffered a most serious head injury and has sustained permanent personality changes after the accident at a site in Abbots Leigh, near Bristol.

North Somerset Magistrates’ Court heard that Paul Hinton of Bristol had been hired by Elegance Building Contractors Ltd. to work at a domestic property on 6 September 2010 and the work included raising the roof level of the building and cladding part of the property with feature stonework.

The air ambulance was called to airlift the injured worker to hospital and he was off work recovering as best he could and only fit to return to some work until May 2011.

The company used subcontractors for the work but failed to ensure brick guards were installed on the scaffolding.   Brick guards are designed to stop materials falling below.

Speaking after the case, Health and Safety Executive Inspector, Mark Renouf, said:

“This tragic incident could easily have been avoided if the brick guards or similar had been fitted to the scaffold"

“Mr Hinton has suffered major injuries and the incident could very well have led to a fatality"

"The use of hard hats was not common on this site however the greater failing is not stopping materials from falling in the first place"

“Building companies must learn from this case and make sure basic safety precautions are observed on sites”

Elegance Building Contractors Ltd, of Princess Victoria Street, Bristol was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,733.

David Jones, Editor-in-Chief of CDM2007.org comments:

"It is sad when workers suffer injury through senseless actions both of themselves and from the lack of proper controls of the workplace around them"

"This accident happened on a domestic property which probably indicates that little or no regard to the CDM regulations was made - (?)" 

"The fine imposed by the Magistrates' Court would have been far more effective had it been earlier used to provide appropriate training and some hard-hats!"

"This is a good indication that some form of CDM compliance ought to be considered to be formally imposed upon the sector of the construction industry that predominatly works exclusively in the domestic market"

Ed.