A Wakefield-based contractor has been fined £150,000 after an elderly client fell through an unguarded hole at his house.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Cooper and Westgate was converting Kenneth Armitage’s bathroom into a wet room when it left an unguarded hole in the floor after removing floorboards to access pipework.
Armitage, 81, died after falling through the hole into his kitchen on 8 February 2019, where he was discovered by his son-in-law a day later.
The HSE statement said Cooper and Westgate “failed to adequately secure the hole as its employees were not properly trained” and “failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, nor a method statement for the work involved”.
Cooper and Westgate was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at Leeds Magistrates Court on Tuesday (17 September). The company was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £50,000 in costs.
HSE health and safety inspector Yolande Burns-Sleightholme said: “Employers need to fully assess and control the risks from work at height caused by creating holes in domestic properties and recognise the importance of securing them effectively.
“They should then pass this knowledge on to their employees through suitable training and guidance.
“This incident could so easily have been avoided had Cooper and Westgate properly assessed the risks, put in place safe working practices and provided the correct training to its employees.”
In the HSE statement, Armitage’s daughter Suzy said: “Our dad, who was sadly taken away from us, was everything to us. We are all still struggling to come to terms with losing him.”
