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Chesterfield builder Andrew Clifford had been working alone installing first-floor joists during the construction of a house on Main Road in Dronfield. The 51-year-old was carrying out the work on behalf of Paul Freeman Limited – a Mansfield-based company he had worked with for around 20 years.
On the morning of 31 October 2022, Mr Clifford slipped and fell from the first floor to the ground below and was left unable to move.
He remained lying face down on the floor for around six hours before he was found by a delivery driver – He had judged the time by hearing hourly news bulletins from his radio.
He spent nearly five months in hospital, with the injuries to his spinal cord so serious they left him paralysed from the chest down, with only limited movement in his hands and arms.
Speaking about the day that changed his and his family’s lives forever, Mr Clifford said: “The first thing I recall after my fall was landing on my head.
“From that point it was a very strange feeling as from when I landed, I felt no pain and I couldn’t understand why or that I couldn’t get up.
“I think I fell between 9am and 9.30 and wasn’t found until 3pm.”
He went on to say how being a builder was a job he loved and described the impact the incident has had on his everyday life.
“I can’t do anything I used to love doing before,” he said.
“Simple things like doing the gardening, washing the car and jobs around the house.
“I can’t even wash or dress myself now.
“I haven’t been upstairs in my house since the accident – my wife and three daughters all sleep upstairs and I sleep alone downstairs.
“Another thing that really upsets me is the thought of not being able to walk my daughters down the aisle when they get married.”
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Paul Freeman Limited failed to ensure that work at height had been properly planned and, as such, no measures had been implemented to prevent falls during the construction of the first floor. Mr Clifford had not been provided with suitable instruction as to how the work should be carried out and was therefore left to work this out on his own.
Paul Freeman Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Derby Magistrates’ Court on 4 November 2024. They were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,263.
HSE Inspector Sara Andrews said: “My thoughts remain with Andrew and his family, whose lives have changed dramatically as a result of this preventable incident.
“This case highlights the importance of undertaking a thorough assessment of the risks for all work at height activities and the need to ensure that, where work at height cannot be avoided, suitable control measures are implemented to minimise the risk of serious injury.
“This is even more significant when lone working.”
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