Safety breach costs HS2 contractor £60,000 after worker falls 11 metres

An engineering firm has been ordered by a court to pay nearly £60,000, after an employee suffered life-changing injuries working at an HS2 construction site.

The engineer, employed by EMC Elite Engineering Services Ltd (EMC), was repairing a conveyor at Chalfont Lane in West Hyde (Hertfordshire) on November 20 2022 when he fell 11 metres, due to missing stair treads.

The 57-year-old landed on a concrete floor, sustaining a fractured pelvis, skull, hip, jaw and two broken wrists. During two months in hospital, he had surgery to have six plates inserted into his face. His wife has become his carer.

A HSE investigation found that EMC failed to ensure the work was properly planned, supervised, and carried out in a manner that was safe.

Pleading guilty at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on July 15, to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, the Basildon company was ordered to pay £59,371 in fines and costs.