A TEENAGE apprentice joiner broke a wrist and fractured a cheekbone when he fell from scaffolding while working for an Elsecar-based company.
The 16-year-old had been passing roof tiles from the loading bay to a colleague on the scaffold when he caught his foot in the gap between the scaffold platform and the loading bay.
He fell backwards under a single guard rail to the ground.
He also injured his ribs and had 13 stitches for a deep cut above his left eye.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the loading bay edge protection did not include an intermediate guard-rail or toe board.
Bland Scaffolding Ltd of Old Ship House, Wath Road, Elsecar, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8(a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £918 in costs.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Trisha Elvy said: “This case highlights the importance of following well known industry guidance to design and erect scaffolding in a safe manner, a fall from this height could have easily been fatal.”
