Worker loses eye and suffers brain injury after fall

A builder has been fined £8,000 after a worker lost an eye and suffered traumatic brain injury.

Gwyndaf Davies, who was 21 at the time of the incident, was helping to re-roof a building at Penwerddu Farm, Boncath in April last year. He fell through the roof to the concrete floor below, suffering multiple facial fractures, a traumatic brain injury and multiple spine fractures.

His employer, Delme L James Ltd, was yesterday fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,200 for failing to take preventative steps against workers falling from height.

Davies spent nine months as an in-patient at Morriston hospital and has undergone significant facial reconstructive surgery and eye surgery. According to the Health and Safety Executive he has been left with “lasting effects of a traumatic brain injury, blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other. He has limited speech and cannot walk without aid.”

An HSE statement continued: “Gwyndaf continues to receive intensive physiotherapy and speech therapy, and it is likely he will require significant care for the rest of his life.”

HSE inspector, Anne Marie Orrells, said: “This situation could so easily have been prevented and Mr Davies and his family are still trying to come to terms with the lasting effects of what has happened.”

Mr Davies had worked for the company since leaving school.