Director fined over tragedy

Jan 4 2008 by Neil Atkinson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A COMPANY director has been fined £6,000 and ordered to do 100 hours community service after the death of a man on a Batley building site.

Norman Barry Ellis, a director of Q Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd, had pleaded guilty to two charges under the Health and Safety Act.

Andrew Michael Bridges was killed when a concrete roof collapsed on him as he worked with Ellis at the site of a former electrical store in Bradford Road, Batley, in July 2005.

Health and Safety Executive inspector Sarah Hague said after the case: “This was a tragic incident, made worse by the fact that it could have easily been prevented had the work been properly planned. Construction is one of the UK’s biggest industries but it is also one of its most dangerous, accounting for 77 deaths a year.”