On 4 November 2014 GFT Frames employee Darren Sheppard, 54, was unloading window frames and carrying them up the structure's stairwell. There was a ledge that would form the landing half way up the stairs, which had not yet been installed.
To access the first floor, Sheppard climbed up through the void and onto the floor from the ledge. As he did he slipped and fell, sustaining a broken thumb and ribs.
At Bournemouth Magistrates' Court, Parsons and Joyce Contractors was fined £20,000 after pleading guilty to offences under Regulation 22(1)(a) and 22(2)(a) of the Construction (Designs and Management) Regulations 2007, which requires a principal contractor to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase, and provide workers with site inductions.
GFT Frames pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations because it had failed to properly plan, supervise and carry out the work at height in a safe manner.
The companies were each ordered to pay costs of £9,953.