A mezzanine floor specialist has been prosecuted after a contractor fell through a lift shaft.
Guildford Crown Court heard that M & L Installers Ltd were contracted to install a mezzanine floor at a factory in Sunbury on Thames, Surrey.
The design included a hole in the mezzanine floor where a lift was due to be installed.
A contractor who was working on the floor fell just over 3.5 metres and suffered life threatening injuries, when he stepped backwards through the hole, on 13 January 2015.
He was hospitalised for two months after receiving a severe brain injury and has not been able to work since.
An HSE investigation found that the company failed to guard the hole for the lift or board it up preventing anyone from falling through.
M & L Installers Ltd pleaded guilty to a safety breach and were fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £9165.56 costs.
HSE Inspector, Amanda Huff, commented after the hearing: “The contractors injuries were life changing and he could have easily have been killed. This serious incident and devastation could have been avoided if basic safeguards had been put in place”
