The owner of a Kent scaffolding business has been jailed for 15 months for safety failings.
A worker fell 14 metres and died at a site in North West London.
This conviction is not the first for Mark Hayes, who has three previous offences arising from the fatality of scaffolder Grant Dunmall on 2 July 2012.
He was fined twice at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last year for the non-disclosure of essential documents to support a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation going on at the time.
This documentation, when finally received, emphasised My Hayes could have done more to prevent the fall.
My Hayes was in charge of the scaffolding outside a domestic property from which Grant Dunmall was working when he fell.
After trial, it was concluded there had been a breach of Work at Height Regulations SI 2005/735. An edge protection was missing from the scaffolding and no fall arrest harness has been provided for Mr Dunmall.
Collective fines of £12 000 were also enforced on Mr Hayes only last year for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.
HSE inspector, Jack Wilby, stated of the incident: "The bottom line here is that Mr Dunmall was killed in a preventable fall that could have been avoided."
