BBC tip-off leads to £250,000 fine for worker death

A London firm has been fined £250,000 for the death of a worker thanks to evidence from a BBC documentary.

In 2005, mason and plasterer Balwinder Kumar was working for Regentford of Hackney when he fell from scaffolding and suffered fatal head injuries. But when investigators from the Health and Safety Executive arrived the scaffolding had been removed.

However, it later emerged that a BBC television crew, which was filming for a documentary called Trauma, had accompanied medical staff. Their footage revealed that the scaffolding was in a “poor condition” with “insufficient guard rails and an inadequate working platform”.

HSE inspector Nigel Evans said: “Mr Kumar needlessly lost his life on a small construction site, and it is these smaller sites where a significant proportion of fatalities in the industry occur each year.”

As well as a £250,000 fine the company was ordered to pay £72,000 costs.