A property owner has been prosecuted after they failed to carry out a structural assessment, leading to life-changing injuries to a builder.
A stone wall collapsed on builder Steven Tyson while he was converting some outbuildings into a holiday let accommodation in October 2021. He suffered several injuries including a fractured skull, bleed on the brain, and multiple broken bones.
As part of the planning for the project, Nigel Edwards had not carried out a structural assessment of the outbuildings at his home in Woodhouses. The investigation from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed that a structural assessment of the outbuildings had not been conducted before starting work, and there was no plan in place for dismantling the building safely.
Nigel Edwards, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to breaching the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations SI 2015/51, and was given a 12-month community order and told to complete 80 hours of unpaid work. He must pay costs of £4,097.94.
Steven Tyson recounted his time after the injuries, and said he was in "immense pain". He also commented, "The pain was made worse by the fact I was unable to see my daughters in hospital due to the Covid-19 restrictions on visitors".
HSE inspector Robert Gidman concluded:
"If this project had been planned effectively, engaging the right people at the right time to ensure a suitable safe system of work was implemented, the life-changing injuries sustained by the injured person could have been prevented."
