National hotel chain Marriott pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 following an accident that left a contractor with a compressed fracture of the vertebrae and a fractured heel.

Marriott Hotels International Limited which has around sixty hotels in the UK was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £4607 at Bristol Magistrates Court.

Bristol City Council's Public Health Services Team investigated the accident which occurred on 25 November 2009 at the Marriott Hotel City Centre.

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A 49 year old woman was working for a contractor, undertaking a survey of the plant rooms in the hotel with a view to providing insulation. Whilst accessing the Bristol Suite Plant Room, Mrs Davis stepped on a closed access hatch and fell through on to a concrete floor below, suffering a compressed fracture of her vertebrae and a fractured heel.

Principal Environmental Health Officer Paul Tregale said: "The hatches were not constructed so that they could withstand the weight of a person and were not adequately guarded to prevent persons standing on them. The company failed to assess this risk and as a result Mrs Davis fell a distance of around eight feet, suffering major injuries. This accident was totally avoidable."

(CD)