Construction company fined after joiner suffers life-changing injuries in skylight fall

• Joiner suffered a complete spinal cord injury after falling through an unsecured skylight opening.
• Principal contractor failed to properly plan, manage and monitor the roof work.
• Worker found by his son, the only other person present on site.

A mechanical and engineering construction company based in Manchester has been fined after a joiner suffered life-changing injuries when he fell through a skylight opening while carrying out work on a domestic property in Altrincham.

Adam Kirkpatrick had been subcontracted by JLM Solutions Limited to construct the timber frame for a new roof. On 22 November 2023, the 53-year-old was walking across a piece of plyboard that had been placed over roof light openings in the roof structure. The board had not been secured and gave way beneath him, causing him to fall from height.

Mr Kirkpatrick’s son was the only other person present on site at the time of the incident, after the rest of the workforce had left for the day. He called an ambulance, and Mr Kirkpatrick was taken to hospital, where he was found to have suffered multiple injuries including a head injury, fractured ribs, a fractured sternum and a complete spinal cord injury. He is now paralysed from the waist down.

He said: “I have worked in the construction industry since leaving school. I loved my job.

“I have always been able to provide for my family. Before the accident my wife had gone part time and we were making plans for retirement and spending more time with our grandchildren. This all changed due to the accident.

“It has gone from me being provider for the family to having to rely on other people.

“This accident has impacted my health. I have no feeling below my belly button, I suffer with severe nerve pain and have to self-catheter.

“Only for the NHS I wouldn’t be here today — they have saved my life.”

Mr Kirkpatrick’s wife Julie said: “On the day I was told that Adam would never walk again our world was turned upside down.

“Adam just loved to work. He lived for what he did and did it all for his family.

“It breaks my heart that Adam will never chase after his grandchildren again. He will never be able to play football with the boys or dance with his granddaughter. Everything my husband worked so hard for was to enjoy retirement and spend time with his grandchildren. That dream has been shattered since the accident.”

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that JLM Solutions Limited, acting as the principal contractor, failed to properly plan, manage and monitor the roof work. The company did not ensure suitable measures and equipment were in place to prevent or protect against falls from height and there was a lack of adequate site supervision during the work.

HSE guidance states that good management of health and safety in construction is crucial to the successful delivery of a construction project and principal contractors have an important role in managing the risks of construction work.

Principal contractors must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase and ensure subcontractors have effective preventative and protective measures in place, alongside appropriate supervision, Guidance on health and safety management in construction can be found here: Managing health and safety in construction. Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Guidance on regulations L153

HSE also has detailed guidance on how to plan and carry out work at height safely which highlights the important of using suitable work equipment and implementing effective control measures to prevent falls available here: Health and safety in roof work.

JLM Solutions Limited, of Elliott Street, Manchester, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,850 and a victim surcharge of £2,000 at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on 26 May 2026.

HSE Inspector Karen Farley said: “Falls from height remain one of the leading causes of workplace death and serious injury. The risks are well known throughout the construction industry.

“This prosecution highlights the importance of properly managing work at height activities. Had suitable control measures been implemented, such as a safe working platform combined with appropriate supervision, this incident would not have occurred and Mr Kirkpatrick would not have sustained these significant life-changing injuries.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Matthew Reynolds and paralegal officer Benjamin Stobbart.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. Relevant guidance can be found here Work at height – HSE
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.

• Streamline Shipping Agencies Limited has been fined after a yard operative was struck by a forklift truck at its Aberdeen Harbour premises.
• An HSE investigation found the company failed to ensure adequate separation between pedestrians and vehicles during loading and unloading operations.

A shipping company based in Aberdeen has been fined after an employee suffered serious and life-changing injuries when he was struck by a forklift truck at the company’s yard.

A 43-year-old man was working at Streamline Shipping Agencies Limited’s premises at Palmerston Quay, Aberdeen, when he was struck by a reversing forklift truck driven by a colleague on 26 September 2024. The worker was on foot, unclipping the curtain side of an articulated trailer, when the rear nearside wheel of the forklift made contact with his right leg, pulling him to the ground.

The worker suffered multiple fractures to his right foot and lower leg, as well as a de-gloving injury, undergoing two surgical procedures and skin grafts. He has also required counselling because of the incident and has yet to return to work.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Streamline Shipping Agencies Limited failed to ensure its workplace was organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles could circulate safely. While the company had a traffic management plan in place, it lacked the necessary detail to ensure that loading and unloading – which routinely took place concurrently in the same area – could be carried out safely without putting employees on foot at risk from moving vehicles.

HSE concluded it was reasonably foreseeable that an employee on foot faced a risk of being struck by a moving vehicle when both the pedestrian and driver were concentrating on their respective tasks near each other.

Following the investigation, an Improvement Notice was served on the company. In response, Streamline made a series of improvements to its traffic management arrangements to the satisfaction of HSE.

By law, employers must ensure traffic routes can be used without putting workers at risk. Guidance on managing vehicle movements in the workplace is available on the HSE website.

Streamline Shipping Agencies Limited, of Streamline Terminal, Blaikies Quay, Aberdeen, AB11 5PU, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and Section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The company was fined £146,700 and ordered to pay a Victim Surcharge of £11,000 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on 22 May 2026.

HSE Inspector Nicky Smith said:

“This was a serious and wholly avoidable incident that has had a profound and lasting impact on this worker’s life.

“Employers have a legal duty to ensure that pedestrians and vehicles can move safely within their workplaces, particularly in busy areas where loading and unloading takes place.

“Having a traffic management plan is not enough if it does not contain the detail needed to protect workers on the ground.

“We will not hesitate to hold companies to account when they fall short of their  obligations.”

Further Information

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. Relevant guidance can be found here: Transport safety in waste and recycling – HSE
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in Scotland can be found here.

• Stuart Garnet, 44, was fatally struck by a reversing telehandler at a Cumbria-based waste and recycling company
• An HSE investigation found H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited failed to ensure pedestrians and vehicles could circulate safely on site

A waste and recycling company in Cumbria has been fined £60,000 after an employee was hit and killed by a reversing telehandler in Barrow-in-Furness.

Stuart Garnet, 44, was working at H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited’s waste and recycling facility when he was struck by a reversing telehandler on 12 May 2022. He subsequently died of his injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited failed to ensure the site was organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles could circulate in a safe manner.

By law, employers must ensure traffic routes can be used without putting workers at risk. Guidance on managing vehicle movements in the workplace is available on the HSE website.

H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited, of Scarth Road, Sowerby Woods Business Park, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,624.75 at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on 26 May 2026. A statutory surcharge of £2,000 was also imposed.

HSE Principal Inspector Caroline Shorrock said:

“Stuart Garnet’s death was an avoidable tragedy, and our thoughts are with his friends and family.

“Every year, a significant number of workplace accidents, many of them serious and sometimes fatal, occur because of poor separation of pedestrians and vehicles.

“Had the company implemented suitable separation measures, this fatal injury would not have occurred. The fine imposed on H. Wicks (Lindal) Limited should serve as a clear reminder to everyone in the waste and recycling industry that HSE will hold to account those who fail to keep their workers safe.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Matthew Reynolds and paralegal officer Henrietta Ruthven.

Further Information

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. Relevant guidance can be found here: Transport safety in waste and recycling – HSE
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in Scotland can be found here

• The incident occurred in the early hours of 1 November 2018 at Braefoot Bay Marine Terminal, Firth of Forth, Fife.
• Flammable vapour cloud have resulted in a catastrophic explosion if ignited
• Vladimir Volkov was treated at hospital and subsequently repatriated to Russia, where he received further treatment. He is understood to have returned to work.

A ship’s engineer suffered serious cold burns after Shell UK’s flawed safety procedures led to  a violent release of liquid propane during loading operations at a Firth of Forth marine terminal, a Health and Safety Executive investigation has found.

Vladimir Volkov, a gas engineer aboard the tanker MV Symi, sustained cold burns to 10–13% of his body surface after liquid propane was released without warning at Shell’s Braefoot Bay Marine Terminal near Dalgety Bay, Fife, in the early hours of 1 November 2018.

The incident, which created a rapidly expanding flammable vapour cloud that enveloped workers on both the ship’s deck and the adjacent jetty, could have resulted in a catastrophic explosion if the cloud had found an ignition source .

HSE’s investigation was carried out by inspectors and specialists in its Chemical, Explosives, and Microbiological Hazards division  – reflecting the large quantities of dangerous substances handled at the site.

How it happened

The release was triggered when a Shell technician accidentally pressed a button on a remote-control handset, causing a loading arm quick release coupling to disconnect from the ship’s manifold before the arm had been fully cleared of propane. An estimated 250–300 kilograms of liquid propane was released at pressure in a matter of seconds.

HSE investigators established that Shell’s own operating procedure — which required a critical safety mechanism known as an emergency release coupling to be disarmed before the arm had been fully purged and drained — directly contradicted the guidance provided by the loading arm manufacturer. It also contradicted procedures prepared by a third party involved in the installation of the equipment.

The failings Shell should have caught

The HSE investigation identified two significant underlying failings.

First, Shell’s system of work was unsafe. The operating procedure in place at the time required workers to disarm the emergency release coupling too early in the disconnect sequence — before the loading arm was fully cleared of product. This left a dangerous window in which an accidental button press could, and did, cause a sudden propane release.

Second, Shell’s management of change process was wholly inadequate. When the company replaced all four of its marine loading arms in 2018 — upgrading to new equipment from a different manufacturer that operated differently, including via wireless remote control and with a quick release coupling — it treated the project as a straightforward “like for like replacement.” It was not.

Shell failed to conduct a full risk assessment of the new loading operation. The new arms introduced a remote-control handset with exposed coupling buttons on its side, a feature that had not existed on the previous equipment. No consideration was given to basic protective measures such as fitting interlocks to prevent the coupling from opening while propane was still present, or simply shrouding the buttons to prevent accidental activation.

Following its own post-incident review — prompted by an Improvement Notice served by HSE — Shell identified that a coupling interlock was both technically feasible and reasonably practicable. That system could have prevented the incident entirely.

The broader risk

The vapour cloud produced by the release extended the full length of the ship and across the jetty, reaching down to the surface of the sea. It was registered by gas detection monitors 20 metres away. Propane vapour is heavier than air, highly flammable, and capable of travelling significant distances to find an ignition source. Had the cloud ignited, those in the immediate vicinity would have faced significant risk to their lives.

Shell UK Limited pleaded guilty to breaching The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015, Regulation 5(1) and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Section 33(1)(c). The company was fined £450,000 at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on 26 May 2026.

HSE principal specialist inspector Euan Ross said:

“Shell had adapted procedures from its old equipment and applied them to a new and fundamentally different system, without carrying out adequate safety checks.

“While the injuries sustained were serious enough, this could have been a far more catastrophic event.

“We will not hesitate to take action against companies which fail to do all that they should to keep people safe.”

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in Scotland can be found here.

A fencing contractor in Liverpool has been fined after an employee suffered an electric shock and burns as a result of striking a live underground cable.

Paul Taylor was working for City Fencing Contractors Limited on a construction site at Meade Hill Road, Manchester on 21 May 2024. He had been part of a team installing security fencing to the Meade Hill Shul synagogue.

The 59-year-old was using a breaker to dig into the ground in preparation to install the metal fencing. However, the father-of-three struck a live underground cable causing electric shock, which resulted in him sustaining multiple burn injuries to his stomach, chest and arms.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that City Fencing Contractors Limited had failed to implement suitable and sufficient controls to prevent risk from underground services.

HSE guidance states that construction work which is liable to create a risk to health or safety from an underground service, or from damage to or disturbance of it, must not be carried out unless suitable and sufficient steps have been taken to prevent the risk, so far as is reasonably practicable.

A safe system of work has three basic elements – planning the work; detecting, identifying and marking underground services; safe excavation/safe digging practices.

Careful planning and risk assessments are essential before the work starts. Risk assessments should consider how the work is to be carried out, ensuring local circumstances are taken into account.

Plans or other suitable information about all buried services in the area should be obtained and reviewed before any excavation work starts. Plans give only an indication of the location, and number of underground services at a particular site. It is essential that a competent person traces cables using suitable locating devices.

Before work begins, underground cables must be located, identified and clearly marked. Excavation work should be carried out carefully and follow recognised safe digging practices.

Further guidance can be found here: Excavation and underground services – HSE.

City Fencing Contractors Limited, of 1 Brookfield Dr, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 25(4) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The Company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £5,487 costs at Warrington Magistrates Court on 26 May 2026.

HSE inspector John Padfield said:

“Underground services are widespread and represent a significant risk.

“It is important measures are taken to identify them before any excavation work is undertaken.

“On this occasion, an electrical cable was struck and an operative suffered severe burns.

“However, it could have been much worse and potentially fatal. Had the company implemented an effective safe system of work following HSE guidance, this incident would not have occurred.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Gemma Zakrzewski and paralegal officer Lynne Thomas.

Notes to Editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. Relevant guidance can be found here: Excavation and underground services – HSE.
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.