A contractor has been fined after one of its employees was killed when he fell through an unglazed window opening.

Antonio Rodrigues, 55, had been working for Lima Construction Ltd, the principal contractor on a project to redevelop a former department store on the High Street in New Malden, into commercial and residential units.

On 27 July 2022, Rodrigues, who was working as a labourer on the site, fell from an external scaffolding platform through an unglazed window void, landing on an internal concrete ground floor more than 3m below.

He was taken to hospital, but died from his injuries on 1 August.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that in one wall, window voids had been created to install glazed ‘Juliet’ doors. However, when the doors were delivered, it was found that some had damaged glazing panels, so they were not installed.

Although the company recognised that the four unglazed window voids created a risk to workers on the scaffolding platform – falling from height through the voids – it was only in the hours after Rodrigues fell that protective boarding was installed.

‘Failed to react to unusual situation’

The HSE investigation identified that it was reasonably practicable for boarding or additional inside scaffolding guard rails to have been installed over the window voids as soon as they were created to prevent falls from height.

In addition, the company had not ensured that legally required weekly scaffolding inspections were carried out after 5 July 2022, so the opportunity to identify the risks posed by the unglazed window voids by a competent scaffolding inspector was lost.

Lima Construction Ltd, of Apsley Road, New Malden, pleaded guilty to contravening Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. It was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £11,347 at Westminster Magistrates Court on 18 June 2026.

HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said: “This is a case where a company that generally tried to have good standards of health and safety, failed to react effectively to an unusual situation, and there were tragic consequences.

“Falls from height are one of the leading causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries in the UK. Employers and those in control of any work at height activity should ensure a sensible, pragmatic approach when considering precautions for work at height.”

“As there was no CCTV and nobody witnessed the incident, we will never know exactly what caused Mr Rodrigues to fall. But if the boards added shortly afterwards had been in place, then there would have been no opening for him to fall through in the first place.”

The HSE’s investigation was carried out by HM inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers, and the prosecution was brought by HSE lawyers Iain Jordan and Tom Ledden-Rocks, and paralegal Anushka Lulith.