Balfour Beatty fined £285,0000 after worker falls to death while working on new Birmingham University building
A company has been fined more than a quarter of a million pounds after a 62-year-old worker fell and died during the construction of a new university building in Birmingham.
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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the national regulator for workplace safety, investigated the fall and subsequently prosecuted the infrastructure company Balfour Beatty, with the firm fined £285,000 on Monday.
Victims Igor Malka and a second contractor, Edmund Vispulskis, had been in a scissor lift while installing cladding during the construction of a new engineering hall at the University of Birmingham on January 7, 2020.
The pair, from Lithuania, fell approximately 10 metres when their scissor lift was pushed over by a nearby crane.
Mr Malka died from the fall while Mr Vispulskis sustained injuries to his spine and broken ribs, before spending seven weeks in a neck brace. He also required pins to be inserted in his pelvis and thigh.
Balfour Beatty had been the principal contractor while the National Buried Infrastructure Facility was being built at the university.
The crane was being used to move hydraulic equipment that had been delivered by a lorry. The equipment was set to be installed at the facility.
The HSE investigation found the incident 'could have been prevented' had Balfour Beatty implemented better controls and put in place better communication between contractors.
There were said to have been contractors at the site that were moving the hydraulic units into place with the overhead travelling gantry crane, and another team who were installing internal cladding.
Balfour Beatty, as principal contractor on site, 'had a duty to ensure communication and co-operation' between these contractors.
There was also no lift supervisor present at the time of the incident.
The University of Birmingham was not prosecuted by the workplace safety regulator.
Balfour Beatty, whose headquarters is at Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.
The company was fined £285,000 and ordered to pay £21,768.88 in costs at Birmingham Crown Court.
HSE inspector Gareth Langston said: "This was a tragic incident that led to the death of a worker with another being seriously injured and still experiencing difficulties today as a result.
"Lifting operations must be properly controlled - they must be planned, with plans adhered to."
