A construction company from Pembroke Dock has been prosecuted in Haverfordwest Magistrates' Court due to an employee suffering serious injuries after he fell from a balcony on a building site in an accident at work.
Karl Kraus who is also from Pembroke Dock was an employee of Preseli Construction & Maintenance Ltd, and was working on a build of a property Saundersfoot.
Mr Kraus was instructed to remove a concrete block that had been placed across a doorway. As he proceeded to throw the block, he fell backwards on to the balcony and then seven metres to the ground below.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the three-storey house was being built without scaffold or any form of fall prevention.
Still in constant pain and unable to walk on uneven ground without risking a fall, he is due to undergo further surgery to prevent any further damage to his foot, but his career in the construction industry is over.
Preseli Construction & Maintenance Ltd of Waterloo Industrial Estate, Eastern Avenue, Pembroke Dock pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,376.25.
Mr Newell is also disqualified from acting as a company director, managing or in any way controlling a company for at least two years.