Kier has been fined 拢160,000 after a labourer fell to his death while building Premier League team Everton FC鈥檚 new training academy.
Karl Davis, from Wallasey, was working on the first floor of a building on the Finch Lane site in Halewood when a guardrail gave way and he fell out of an open window frame.
He remained in a coma for three months before he died on 29 May, less than a week after his 43rd birthday.
Kier North West was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the incident on 27 February 2007.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that a rubbish chute had been attached to a temporary guardrail at the window frame, leading to a skip below. Kier North West鈥檚 site management team had failed to ensure that the guardrail could withstand the weight of the chute and materials being thrown down it.
HSE inspector Robert Hodkinson said: 鈥淲hat is incredibly sad about this incident is that a man lost his life when equipment installed to make the work safer failed. Kier North West should have planned and managed the use of the rubbish chute on the site to make sure it was safe.
鈥淔alls from height are the biggest single cause of death and serious injury at work and employers must make sure not only that they provide suitable safety equipment, but that it is also installed, used and maintained properly.
鈥淚f Kier North West had ensured the rubbish chute was attached to a structure which could support its weight then Mr Davis would still be alive today.鈥�
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to ensure the safety of workers. Kier North West, which is based in Tempsford Hall in Sandy, Bedfordshire, was ordered to pay 拢43,993 costs in addition to the fine.
In 2008/9, there were 35 deaths and more than 4,000 major injuries caused by falls from height.
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