A County Down company has been fined £80,000 after one of its workers was seriously injured when he fell into an underground chamber in Bangor last year. John Graham (Dromore) Limited admitted two breaches of health and safety legislation at Downpatrick Crown Court this month, in a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland.
Lester Cowan is in a paraplegic condition as a result of head and spinal injuries sustained in a fall on-site at Ashley Park water pumping station in Bangor. Mr Cowan was a subcontractor for John Graham Ltd who was working on a new waste water scheme. He fell into a large underground water chamber that was being constructed at the time. The HSENI investigation found that access areas in the roof of the 6.4m deep chamber were not adequately covered and the means of accessing the chamber were inadequate. Mr Cowan was pulled to safety by a specialist rope team from Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue, in an operation that took 90 minutes.
Kevin Campbell, an inspector with the HSENI said, “It is vital that companies identify and address hazards within the workplace. Falls from height must be prevented by the implementation of sensible and effective procedures. These systems need to be communicated to the workforce, implemented, maintained and updated when necessary. Simple measures would have prevented workers on this project from falling.”
A responding statement from the Graham group read, “We have no further comment to make on the court proceedings today, except to reiterate that we continue to treat all health and safety matters seriously and with the proper attention. Our thoughts are obviously still with Lester and his family.”
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