Taylor Wimpey fined £800,000 after apprentice's fall

A major housebuilding company has been fined £800,000 following a serious incident in which a 17-year-old apprentice was injured after falling through a collapsed temporary stairwell on a construction site in Weston-super-Mare.

Charlie Marsh, a trainee bricklayer just months into his apprenticeship, was working at Taylor Wimpey UK Limited’s Meadfields development – a project expected to deliver around 450 new homes – when the accident occurred on 22 August 2023.

While carrying concrete blocks to the first floor of a newly built property, a section of temporary flooring collapsed beneath him. The floor, which had been installed over a stairwell and supported by timber joists, gave way under the weight of up to 20kg of materials, sending Charlie plummeting more than two metres to the ground below.

The teen sustained injuries to his fingers, hand, wrist, and shoulder. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector later remarked that he was "lucky" not to have suffered more severe harm.

An investigation revealed that the temporary flooring had not been adequately supported. Taylor Wimpey’s own health and safety procedures required the timber joists to be 'back propped' – a measure that was not implemented on the plot in question.

HSE guidance clearly states that construction firms must take appropriate precautions to prevent structural collapses. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, employers are also legally obliged to protect the wellbeing of contractors under their supervision.

Taylor Wimpey UK Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Act. At a hearing earlier this month at North Somerset Magistrates’ Court, the company was fined £800,000 and ordered to pay £6,240 in costs, along with a £2,000 victim surcharge.

Commenting after the case, HSE inspector Derek Mclauchlan said: "Everyone working in construction has a responsibility to ensure people are safe. Any activity involving structural stability is inherently high risk and must be properly planned and executed.

"This incident could have been entirely prevented if appropriate measures had been followed. The failings of Taylor Wimpey led to a young man, just starting his career, being injured. Charlie was fortunate his injuries weren’t more severe. There are clear lessons to be learned."