Construction Accident Case

A London construction company has been fined £15,000 with £13,540.90 costs after an accident at the Willow Place Shopping Centre in Corby.

BAM Construction, formerly HBG Construction, of Merit House, Edgware Road, Colindale, pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches at Corby Magistrates' Court.

It admitted failing to effectively plan, organise, control, monitor and review traffic on site, including maintaining and managing traffic routes.

A fitter working for Pyrotect, a BAM sub-contractor employed to install fire protection systems, was run over by a fork-lift truck in 2007.

He underwent surgery for a broken tibia and fibia in his left leg, wounds in his left foot, a broken left ankle and a dislocated bone in his right leg. After two years, he has still not returned to work.

Said Health and Safety Executive inspector Mhairi Lockwood: "BAM are one of the big players in the construction field and we would expect better, especially as they have been advised previously on workplace transport at this site."

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David Urpeth from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: "I welcome the fine imposed following this very serious accident at work.

"The construction industry is the industrial sector where a worker is most likely to be injured or killed in an accident at work. That being the case it is disappointing that employers are not doing more to ensure the safety of their workers.

"I regularly help workers pursue their compensation claim after they have suffered injuries at work in circumstances that all too often could have simply been avoided."