Two firms have been ordered to pay a combined £22,000 in fines, plus costs, after an electrical apprentice was seriously injured in a fall from height while installing CCTV at a commercial site in Weymouth, Dorset.
The incident occurred on 13 July 2022 on the roof of a lean-to attached to a main warehouse. The 20-year-old apprentice, employed by Tristan G Murless Ltd, was working from what the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) described as a “makeshift crawling board” when he fell around 11 feet through a fragile roof onto a concrete floor.
According to the HSE, the apprentice lost consciousness “at some point” before an ambulance arrived and reported being unable to feel his body. He was temporarily unable to walk and sustained back injuries, including muscular tissue damage requiring physiotherapy.
An HSE investigation concluded that Tristan G Murless Ltd had failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees by not properly planning the work or providing suitable equipment to prevent a fall through the fragile roof. The company, of Avon Close, Weymouth, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
At Bristol Magistrates Court on 28 November 2025, Tristan G Murless Ltd was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £4,168 in costs. The HSE also brought a separate case against Ellis & Partners (Bournemouth) Ltd for failing to cooperate with its investigation.
Ellis & Partners (Bournemouth) Ltd, of Dean Park Crescent, Bournemouth, admitted breaching Regulation 20(2)(k) of the Health and Safety at Work Act by not complying with an HSE requirement to produce documents under section 20 of the Act. The firm was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £1,200 in costs.
HSE inspector Rebecca Gittoes said a “significant proportion” of serious and fatal incidents each year are linked to poor planning of work at height. She noted that the apprentice, “a young man at the start of his career”, had been failed by his employer and that the incident would have been avoided had the task been properly risk assessed and suitable equipment and a safe system of work been provided.
Gittoes added that the prosecution of Ellis & Partners (Bournemouth) Ltd should underline that both the HSE and the courts treat failures to comply with section 20 powers “very seriously”. She said the regulator “will not hesitate to take action against companies which do not cooperate by failing to provide requested documents.”
