A Fermanagh company has been fined for health and safety breaches.
The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) successfully led the prosecution against HICS Properties Ltd following repeated breaches.
Today (Wednesday) at Enniskillen Magistrates’ Court, HICS Properties Ltd was fined a total of £1000 after pleading guilty to multiple offences which placed those working on the site at risk. These offences included the contravention of multiple enforcement notices served during construction work at Rosscah View, Kesh, County Fermanagh between May and August 2022.
The HSENI investigation arose following a series of inspections carried out at the Rosscah View housing development. During an initial inspection on 5 May 2022, serious risks to the health and safety of workers were identified. HSENI observed unsafe scaffolding being used on two partially built houses and as a result issued a prohibition notice, suspending all work from height until such times as the scaffolding was made safe. Despite the enforcement action, further visits revealed ongoing work from the same unsafe scaffolding structures and the absence of suitable edge protection, including missing guard rails, which placed those working on the scaffolding at a serious risk of a fall from height.
HSENI also issued improvement notices which required HICS Properties Ltd, as the Principal Contractor, to provide adequate welfare facilities, prepare a construction phase health and safety plan, and to appoint competent site supervision. The company failed to comply with these notices within the timeframes directed by HSENI.
Prosecutors in the PPS’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with HSENI to build a robust prosecution case.
Speaking after the hearing, HSENI Inspector Gavin Myers said: “This case highlights a complete disregard for basic health and safety requirements on construction sites. Despite repeated warnings and enforcement notices, HICS Properties Ltd continued to allow unsafe work at height and failed to provide even the most basic facilities for workers’ welfare.
Falls from height remain one of the biggest causes of death and serious injury in construction. Employers must ensure that scaffolding is erected, inspected, and maintained by competent persons and that all work at height is properly planned and supervised. Principal contractors also have a clear legal duty to provide adequate welfare arrangements and manage health and safety throughout the construction phase.”
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 place clear duties on Principal Contractors to plan, manage and monitor construction work so that it can be carried out safely and without risk to health. Further information on Principal Contractors duties under these regulations can be found at: HSENI- Principal Contractor duties.
Further information on the legal requirements for safe working at height on construction sites can be found at: HSENI- working at height..
