Company fined and ordered to pay compensation after breach in safety leads to injury at work

A developer and a contractor from north London have been fined a total of £110,000 after a Polish worker was left permanently disabled.

Pawel Szczotka, 33, was working on a site by the North Circular in Brent building a warehouse for local developer Gargreen Ltd and its associated contractor Euro's (London).

The father-of-three suffered major injuries to his pelvis and legs after a two-tonne concrete slab fell on him, and more than two years on, he is still severely disabled.

At Croydon Crown Court, Gargreen Ltd was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 compensation after pleading guilty to breaching regulation 6 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994.

Euro's (London) Ltd, was found guilty of breaching health and safety regulations. The court imposed a total fine of £100,000 and ordered no costs to be paid.

Vijay Kara, a director of both Euro's (London) Ltd and Gargreen Ltd, and who played a direct role in managing the construction work on the site, was convicted of breaking Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and was fined £99,900 and ordered to pay £150,000 costs.

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David Urpeth, a Partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell commented: "Construction site accidents represent a large proportion of serious and fatal industrial accidents. Sadly, I represent many workers who have been injured or killed in serious workplace accidents.

"Employers and those responsible for workers health and safety must take their responsibilities seriously if we are ever to see a reduction is serious workplace injury."

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