A CONSTRUCTION company has been fined tens of thousands of pounds after an employee was injured during the building of homes in Chineham.

Croudace Homes Limited, based in Surrey, pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulation 2005 and has been fined £80,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £5,355.

Basingstoke Magistrates Court heard on November 21 how, on October 31, 2016, a Croudace employee was working in a loft space of a home at the company’s Vyne Park development in Chineham when the incident happened.

The man fell through a plasterboard ceiling onto the staircase below and sustained a punctured lung, six fractured ribs, a fractured vertebra and a fractured shoulder.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that there was poor planning of the pre-plaster work and a lack of understanding of the risks associated with working at height in the loft without adequate fragile surface protection.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sharron Cripps said: “Falls from height remain the most common cause of work-related fatalities and serious injuries in the construction industry and the risks associated with working at height are well-known.

"Working on or near fragile materials at height can be particularly dangerous and it is very important that those in control of the work identify the risk, plan to eliminate it if possible, or where it is not possible, take appropriate precautions to safeguard workers and others. Good management will also include regular monitoring that the controls in place are keeping people safe.”

A statement from Croudace Homes said: “We are extremely sorry that such an incident happened on one of our sites, and sorry for the consequences it has had for Mr Hitchener and his family.

“We have fully co-operated with the HSE investigation in addition to carrying out our own comprehensive enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“Croudace Homes sets itself high standards for the management of health, safety and well-being in all our places of work. It is a primary objective for the company that no one comes to any harm as a result of our business operations.

“As a result of our enquiry we have reviewed and amended elements of our site policy and practice in order to minimise the likelihood of any reoccurrence.

“Mr Hitchener has our best wishes for a continued and full recovery, and a return to his normal life.”