Man left paralysed after drain fall

Prosecutions and Claims |
01.02.2007

A drain company has been fined £16,000 plus £5,509 costs after a 73-year-old man was left paralysed after falling 5.5m down a manhole. Patrick Paul O'Regan fell through an open manhole into a sewer in November 2005 when Drain Busters (NW) was carrying out surveying work in Wrexham. The HSE's investigation revealed the workers had received no formal training on the need for barriers around manholes. Drain Busters pleaded guilty at Wrexham Magistrates' Court to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.