A company has been prosecuted after two workers were seriously injured when they fell from height during refurbishment work at a hospital in Otley, West Yorkshire.

PJ Livesey Living Space (North) Ltd of Ashburton Park, Trafford Park, Manchester, has been fined £56,000 with over £7,262 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Leeds Crown Court heard how two joiners were subcontracted by the company to work on the refurbishment and construction of new build dwellings at the former Wharfedale Hospital. On 03 October 2014, the pair were working in the bell tower at the site on a temporary access platform when it collapsed.

-- Advertisement --

The victims fell around 3.4-metres onto a lower platform, which also collapsed. They then fell a further 3.4 metres onto the ground floor of the building. One of the workers injured their ankle, while the other has suffered permanent nerve damage to the face. Both platforms had been installed by PJ Livesey Living Space to allow other contractors to access the roof structure.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the work platforms had been designed by the site manager, an employee of PJ Livesey. However, the The site manager was not competent to carry out such a design and the design had not been reviewed by another competent person. Consequently, the platform was unsafe and collapsed.

HSE inspector Chris Tilley said: "The risks associated with working at height are well known.

"Temporary works must always be designed to meet British Standards by a competent person and in the case of more complex works such as this, be subject to a secondary overview."

(LM)