A construction company has been fined £100,000 after a steel-fixer was seriously injured when a newly built blockwork wall collapsed at a site in Poole, raising concerns about safety culture and employee wellbeing in the construction sector.
Matrod Frampton Limited pleaded guilty at Bristol Magistrates’ Court following an incident that left 69-year-old Patrick Grant with life-changing injuries.
The court heard that the incident took place on 19 August 2022 at the company’s site on Old Coast Guard’s Road, Poole. Mr Grant and two colleagues had started work at the lower level of an excavation when a breeze block wall at the north end collapsed at around 8.30am. The wall had been back-filled before the mortar had properly set, causing it to give way while Mr Grant was working nearby.
As the wall fell, Mr Grant was crushed against the concrete floor of the excavation. Emergency services attended the scene, but the response was delayed due to the absence of an emergency rescue plan. Access to the deep excavation relied on an unstable ladder, which slowed rescue efforts. Mr Grant was eventually hoisted out by the fire and rescue service and airlifted to hospital.
Temporary Works Failures and Workplace Risk Management
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Matrod Frampton Limited had failed to properly assess foreseeable risks linked to temporary works. There was no temporary works design in place for the blockwork wall or for other temporary structures on site.
The investigation also found that the company had not appointed a temporary works coordinator or supervisor. This omission had been flagged as a serious concern in a health and safety report issued eight days before the incident. Temporary works commonly include excavations, trenches, formwork, shoring, scaffolding, edge protection and site fencing, all of which require clear planning and oversight.
Without a temporary works procedure, groundworkers backfilled the wall prematurely, directly leading to its collapse. The Health and Safety Executive concluded that this failure reflected systemic weaknesses in how safety risks were identified and managed on the site.
Wellbeing Implications And Enforcement Action
Matrod Frampton Limited, of Riverside Park, Wimborne, Dorset, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 13(1) and 19(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £8,242 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge.
Following the hearing, HSE inspector Alexander Ashen said, “The correct design and execution of temporary works is an essential element of risk prevention in construction. This incident illustrates what can happen when temporary works are not properly organised. Matrod Frampton Limited is an established construction company and a temporary works procedure should have been implemented as a matter of course.”
He added that the fact the company’s own health and safety consultants had raised concerns shortly before the incident made it a wholly avoidable event.