John Doyle fined for worker falling from scaffolding

John Doyle Construction has been fined more than £16,000 after a worker was injured when he fell from scaffolding on the Liverpool One development.

Gerard Baccino had been working on the top of scaffolding at the Hilton hotel site in July 2007, when it toppled beneath him and he fell about six metres.

The father of three subsequently suffered back injuries in the fall and fractured his pelvis and chest.

The firm pleaded guilty breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £13,244.

Baccino, who had only been working for John Doyle Construction for a few days when the incident happened, said: "I’ve been in a lot of pain since the incident, and will never be able to do manual work again. Construction companies have to start listening more to their workers and stop thinking that they know all the answers.”

Commenting on the case, Mark Cuff, HSE’s investigating inspector, said: "This incident was entirely avoidable and was caused by John Doyle Construction asking Mr Baccino to work at the top of a structure that was inherently unstable. It was only by chance that there wasn’t a fatality."