Renfrewshire Council has been fined after an elderly tenant fell through an access hole in her hallway that had been left uncovered by council workers.

Margaret O'Donnell, 77 and from Paisley, fell four feet through the hole and suffered a broken arm and an undisplaced crack in her thigh bone. The incident happened in February 2010 when council workers were installing a new central heating boiler in her flat.

Each boiler installation is usually completed in a day. It involves a hatch cut in the floorboards to allow access to pipe work and cabling. Tenants are given an information sheet to read and sign, which indicates the extent of works involved, but it doesn't mention that a hole may be made in the floorboards. At a hearing at Paisley Crown Court earlier this week, the court was told that during the installation, Mrs O'Donnell was instructed to stay in her living room as the floorboards in the hallway were being lifted. A joiner cut a hole in the floorboards outside the living room door. He then left the property to go and carry out another task, but had not covered up the hole. The rest of the installation team later heard someone shouting and discovered Mrs O'Donnell had fallen into the hatch.

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An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the circumstances of her fall, found Renfrewshire Council had failed to take appropriate measures to prevent people falling into openings in the floor; that no steps were taken by the council to ensure employees were provided with covers or that they were aware of the importance of using one.

The local authority was fined £20,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Following the case, HSE Inspector Russell Berry, said: "This incident was both entirely foreseeable and easily preventable. Renfrewshire Council's own risk assessment stated that all open areas of flooring should be covered indicating it was well aware of the risk from an open access hole.

"However, they did not provide information to workers about the need for covers or ensure covers were used by their employees to protect tenants during the work.

"It was evident that significant risks of injury were present during the installation work and as Margaret O'Donnell remained in the flat during the work, the risk of personal injury was even greater. Simple measures such as a temporary plywood cover would have eliminated the risks and prevented this incident."

(JP/IT)