One of the UK's largest building merchants has been fined after a worker suffered serious injuries in Great Yarmouth.
Jewson Ltd was taken to court after an investigation by Great Yarmouth Borough Council's environmental services department.
It came after a wooden pallet and heavy Thermalite blocks fell onto an employee in their storage yard in Boundary Road, on February 5, 2014.
The pallet and blocks had been placed on top of a stack of lightweight insulation boards to secure them against high winds, which were experienced on that day.
The employee was taken to hospital with a broken leg. He also had to have skin grafts.
At Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court, on April 12, Jewson Limited pleaded guilty to failing to discharge its duty to ensure the safety at work of an employee.
They were fined £6,700 and told to pay £5,166.52 costs plus a £120 victim surcharge.
At the time of the incident, the business had a risk assessment in place, which required the insulation to be stored correctly, at a safe height, and reduced in height in windy conditions. Employees indicated to the borough council that they were not aware of this risk assessment.
In a statement, a Jewson spokesperson said: 'Jewson accepts the decision of the Court and has already taken measures to ensure that this type of regrettable incident does not reoccur.
'The Health and Safety of customers, employees, contractors and members of the public is our number-one priority and while we had a comprehensive health and safety management system in place at the time of the incident, there were clearly failures in applying those requirements fully at this site, at the time of the incident, which ultimately led to this regrettable incident. We continue to be focused on our goal of zero harm at all of our operations and working with all our colleagues to achieve this aim.'
Sarah Flatman, the borough council's commercial team manager, said: 'An important part of sensible risk management is having relevant risk assessments in place and ensuring that staff are aware of and, equally importantly, trained on them.
'This is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork, but rather about thinking through the potential risks, identifying things that could cause accidents, and ensuring that sensible measures are in place to control risks.'
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