Fines after boy's skull fractured by falling pipe

The company was fined at Southampton Crown Court

A construction company and its director have been fined after a cast iron pipe fell onto a five-year-old boy and fractured his skull.

Sage Homes Limited was overseeing building work on an extension to a house in Totton, Hampshire, when the pipe fell onto the child who was passing by underneath.

Director Jason Scorey and the company were sentenced at Southampton Crown Court for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act and together were ordered to pay costs of more than £25,000.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Alexander Ashen said: "Properly assessing risk to workers and members of the public is a vital part of any construction project."

The incident took place in July 2021 near to a school gate and involved a corroded pipe estimated to date from the 1930s.

Its base had been broken away by the builder some days previously so that a concrete floor could be excavated.

"When a TV cable was freed from the pipe, the top two sections of pipe, weighing over 45kg, fell across the pavement," the HSE said.

When giving evidence Scorey said he could see no need to secure the pipe, the HSE said.

But its ensuing investigation found that the company and director had failed to properly assess what was a foreseeable risk.

The incident involved a corroded pipe estimated to date from the 1930s

Scorey received a fine of £1,685, with 45 days' imprisonment in default, and was ordered to pay costs of £10,436.

Sage Homes Limited was fined £15,000.

Both were also ordered to pay a victim surcharge.

Mr Ashen said: "It would have been a simple and inexpensive task to secure the pipe once it had been broken out at its base.

"The fact that the construction work was being carried out yards from a school gate at the time parents were collecting their children should have prompted even more care on the part of the duty holder."