Judge fines firm £30,000

A CONSTRUCTION company was fined £30,000 after they admitted breaching health and safety regulations which left a married father-of-two tragically dead after he fell three floors.

Handing the fine down to recently-liquidated Fernwave Ltd at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Tom Burgess said the fine should act as a deterrent to other companies that they should "for every minute of every day, concentrate on every small part of their operation to ensure that accidents do not happen".

Earlier he had heard that 35-year-old Jonathan Friel was working on the fourth floor of the Obel Tower in Belfast when he stepped on unsupported plywood covering a service void and fell onto the concrete of the first floor, sustaining fatal head injuries.

Prosecuting lawyer David Russell told the court the way that Fernwave Ltd worked was that when the props and beams supporting the plywood were about to be removed, they contacted O'Hare & McGovern, who were in control of safety guard rails, to come and erect rails around the void.

In this instance, said the lawyer, "there was clearly a failure to carry out that action" and so when bricklayer Mr Friel stepped onto it, not knowing it was unsupported, he fell and died from his injuries two weeks later.

At an earlier court hearing Connor Bradley, a director of Fernwave Ltd with an address at Glenshane Business Park, Legavallon Road in Dungiven, pleaded guilty to three counts of health and safety offences.

Mr Russell said although the company had pleaded guilty, there was nothing to suggest the site was "run in a slapdash manner".

Defence lawyer Stuart Spence argued that as the fines set had to reflect the ability of a company to pay and because Fernwave has gone into liquidation, "I think it has to be zero".

He revealed that despite having million pound contracts in the past with other construction companies, as well as the £3 million contract with O'Hare & McGovern for the Obel Tower, Fernwave had gone into liquidation owing £1.3 million to the Bank of Ireland.

Mr Spence told the court that former director Mr Bradley, who sat at the back of the court, "does offer his sincere condolences to the widow of Mr Friel and his family for what obviously was a tragic accident".

In handing down the fine, Judge Burgess said that "yet again the court is faced with an incident at work which was avoidable and should never have occurred".

Article created by Andy. (ad@complyuk.co.uk)