Taylor Wimpey Fined £800,000 After Apprentice Falls Through Unsecured Floor
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A tragic incident involving a teenage apprentice has led to a major fine for housebuilding giant Taylor Wimpey. The company has been fined £800,000 following a health and safety investigation into a serious fall at its Meadfields development site in Weston-Super-Mare, where around 450 homes are under construction.
Charlie Marsh, 17, an apprentice bricklayer from Whitchurch in Bristol, was working on site less than a year into his career when the accident occurred on 22 August 2023.
While loading concrete blocks onto the first-floor temporary flooring of a new home, part of the structure gave way beneath him. The blocks, stacked in groups of 10 to 20, were being placed on or near a temporary stairwell cover — a timber sheet laid over joists, intended to be removed later during staircase installation.
The joists beneath the sheet were not back propped, a critical safety step that had been specified in Taylor Wimpey’s own site safety manual but had been missed on this particular plot. As a result, the floor collapsed, sending both Charlie and around 20kg of concrete blocks crashing more than two metres to the ground floor below.
Charlie sustained multiple injuries, including to his hand, wrist, shoulder, and fingers.
Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Taylor Wimpey UK Limited pleaded guilty to breaches of health and safety regulations. The firm was fined £800,000 and ordered to pay £6,240.25 in costs, along with a £2,000 victim surcharge, at North Somerset Magistrates’ Court.
The joists beneath the sheet were not back propped, a critical safety step that had been specified in Taylor Wimpey’s own site safety manual but had been missed on this particular plot. As a result, the floor collapsed, sending both Charlie and around 20kg of concrete blocks crashing more than two metres to the ground floor below.
Charlie sustained multiple injuries, including to his hand, wrist, shoulder, and fingers.
Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Taylor Wimpey UK Limited pleaded guilty to breaches of health and safety regulations. The firm was fined £800,000 and ordered to pay £6,240.25 in costs, along with a £2,000 victim surcharge, at North Somerset Magistrates’ Court.
HSE Inspector Derek Mclauchlan commented:
“Any work involving structural stability is potentially high risk and must be properly planned and executed.
This incident could have been avoided had the appropriate steps been taken.
The failures on this site resulted in a young man being injured at the very start of his career. Charlie was lucky not to have been more seriously hurt.
Important lessons must be learned.”
This case highlights the vital importance of robust site safety protocols, especially when temporary structures are involved and when young or inexperienced workers are present on site.
