Luxury Builder Fined £120,000 After Carpenter's Fatal Fall

WG Carter Limited has been fined £120,000 after carpenter Richard "Felix" Roper fell through an unsafe first floor and died from severe head injuries while carrying out refurbishment work in Gloucestershire.

The 59-year-old father of two had been working on the first floor of Manor Barn House, Nether Westcote, on 30 August 2022. The project involved extensive repairs to replace rotten floor joists and floorboards.

At Bristol Magistrates' Court, the Oxfordshire-based luxury house builder, of Appleton, pleaded guilty to safety breaches. The court fined the company £120,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £5,247.

What happened on site?

Roper had been tasked with replacing damaged floor joists while other workers removed sections of flooring in the same area, according to the case details. Large parts of the first-floor structure had been stripped back, leaving open gaps between joists. Some joists were missing altogether or had not been secured.

Roper fell from the first floor to the concrete ground floor below. He sustained severe head injuries and died in hospital the following day.

What did the investigation find?

A joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Gloucestershire Police found that the work at height had not been properly planned, appropriately supervised, or carried out safely.

The investigators identified multiple failures:

• Workers could access areas of the first floor where flooring and structural supports had been removed, despite insufficient measures to prevent falls.
• Other workers continued to remove floorboards in the same area, creating and increasing the risk of falls from height.

Following the incident, HSE served a Prohibition Notice that stopped further work at height until the company introduced adequate safety measures.

After the incident, WG Carter Limited adopted a safer method of working: installing floor joists from below using appropriate work-at-height equipment and preventing access to the first floor during the work.

What did the HSE say?

HSE principal inspector James Lucas said: "Due to the failings of this company, a man lost his life."

"Every year, workers are killed or suffer life-changing injuries because work at height has not been properly planned or suitable safeguards have not been put in place," Lucas said.

"Had appropriate controls been in place, Felix's death could have been prevented."

"Our thoughts remain with Felix's family. He was a valued colleague and a much-loved father of two who lost his life in circumstances that should never have arisen."

The sentencing sends a clear signal to contractors undertaking refurbishment and structural repairs in occupied domestic properties: simultaneous floor-stripping and joist replacement without fall prevention and exclusion zones can cost lives — and now £125,247 in fines and costs.