€15,500 fines after worker falls at construction site

Two construction companies were fined a total of €15,500 on Monday after a worker was seriously injured in a fall from a height of 5.5 metres at a building site in Nicosia.

The Nicosia district court imposed an €11,500 fine on Perkola Building Works and a €4,000 fine on Cyfield following a criminal prosecution by the inspection department of the labour ministry.

The court found that Perkola Building Works breached occupational safety and health legislation by failing to ensure that scaffolding floors were complete and free of gaps.

An employee fell through an opening measuring 250cm by 30cm while carrying plywood with a colleague, landing on the ground and suffering a chest injury.

“The scaffolding floor was not adequately protected,” the court said, adding that the company failed to properly supervise the work, exposing employees to risk.

It also failed to cooperate with the project execution safety and health coordinator.

Cyfield, as the main contractor for the project, was convicted of separate safety breaches that placed workers employed by the subcontractor at risk.

The court ruled that the company failed to provide scaffolding with suitable staircases or equivalent safe access to work platforms.

It also failed to inspect the scaffolding before formwork installation began, the court said, in order to identify and repair defects that were present.