A Leicestershire building firm has been fined after an employee fell five metres and was then struck by a wooden board and concrete blocks after a partially-built floor gave way.
Leicester Magistrates' Court heard that the worker was helping to construct the second floor of a new build house when it gave way after being overloaded with concrete blocks. The joists collapsed onto first floor joists that also gave way.
The lower joists helped to break his fall, but he still fell to the ground with the materials, some of which landed on top of him. He was unable to return to work for six weeks.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and prosecuted his employer for failing to prevent the incomplete floor from being used and overloaded.
The latest figures from the HSE show that 38 people died as a result of a fall in a workplace in Great Britain in 2010/11, and more than 4,000 suffered a major injury.