Property developer fined for worker’s 2.5m fall on Cumbrian site

Clearair Property Developments has been fined £1,500 after a worker suffered a spinal injury in a 2.5m fall on a site in Cumbria.

Joiner Anthony Crack fell through an unprotected stairwell whilst working on a Clearair Property barn conversion project in Warwick upon Eden. Crack sustained several injuries, including a spinal fracture and a punctured lung.

The Health and Safety Executive has reminded firms of the dangers of working at height following the prosecution for the incident, which was held at North Cumbria Magistrates Court last week. Clearair was fined £1,500 plus £1,559 costs.

HSE inspector David Charnock, said: “The accident was typical of the type of preventable falls which remain all too common in the construction industry. Had there been adequate handrails or coverings in place at the stairwell, the accident could not have happened.”