MOTHERWELL BRIDGE LTD in Burry Port has been fined after an employee fell two metres and suffered ‘life changing and ongoing pain’.
Swansea Magistrates’ Court fined the engineering firm £16,000 plus costs of £4,000 after a guilty plea was entered for breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations.
An investigation led by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company did not have suitable plans in place for working at that height and had no supervision.
Philip Roberts was working at Tata Steelworks, and had been tasked to build a gasholder.
The court heard that the welder was there to weld seams of the tank.
The incident occurred when Mr Roberts walked around his colleague, falling through a platform and landed on his back with two planks falling on him, hitting his head and leg.
As a result, he suffered two fractured ribs, a bruised lung and a strained torso.
Ever since the incident, the Springfield Terrace resident has suffered from back pains and it has stopped him from returning to work.
Mr Roberts said: “The scaffolding was inadequate. I fell nearly 10 feet on my back. It was horrible. It came out of the blue, and you don’t realise what is happening. I was in hospital for days in constant pain. This is all through neglect, it was completely avoidable.”
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