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Shopping centre made to pay £10k after Black Country worker injured in fall

A shopping centre giant has been ordered to pay more than £10,000 for a breach of health and safety regulations after a worker from the Black Country fractured his shoulder in a fall.

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Brett Mason plummeted more than six feet through an unprotected gap in mesh flooring landing on a roof deck below.

The 39-year-old from Sedgley was one of a team of subcontractors working on a roof extension at the White City mall complex, in west London, when the fall took place on December 20 2013.

Mr Mason suffered a dislocated and fractured right shoulder and was unable to work for six months.

Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.

Westminster magistrates heard the company was principal contractor for the construction of a two-storey roof extension to an existing retail store - part of a 'Kidzania' project to provide a new leisure and educational facility for children.

The court was told the team of subcontractors was hired to relocate five units - used to supply and circulate air in the building - from the previous roof level to the new roof plant deck.

On December 20 2013, Mr Mason and a colleague had been finishing work in preparation for the Christmas break.

As a final check of the plant deck, the two had walked around to ensure all their materials were safely secured and not liable to blow off the roof in high winds.

Magistrates were told they had gone into an area of the area of the plant deck where installation of the mesh flooring had been recently completed and where they had stored large sections of duct.

They found two duct sections they felt were not securely lashed down so they decided to untie them and lay them down before securing them firmly.

As they were about to work on the second duct, Mr Mason stepped back and fell through the unprotected gap in the plant deck mesh flooring, landing on the roof deck below.

The court was told the HSE investigation found the fall could have been easily avoided had edge protection been placed around the gap - the accepted practice to protect workers operating at height.

Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd, of MidCity Place, High Holborn, London, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £1,247 in costs after admitting a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Loraine Charles said: "The hole through which Mr Mason fell was one of a number of planned gaps in the plant deck mesh flooring.

"Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd was well aware of the potential for the creation of risks of fall from height. As the principal contractor, it should have ensured that steps were taken to mitigate those risks whenever and wherever they arose.

"It was under a duty to ensure that the installation of the plant deck flooring was planned to make certain that intended gaps were provided with suitable edge protection at the earliest opportunity.

"This painful injury to Mr Mason, the after-effects of which still continue to have an impact on his daily life, could and should have been prevented.

"Falls from height is the biggest cause of fatalities in the workplace, and the second biggest cause of serious injuries."

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