Get you up to speed: 19-Year-Old Labourer Dies After Falling Through Ventilation Shaft | News UK
Renols Lleshi, a 19-year-old construction worker, died after falling six storeys from the roof garden of a block of flats in Acton due to unsafe site conditions.
Jerram Falkus Construction Limited was fined £42,200 by the City of London Magistrates for health and safety violations following the tragic death of Renols Lleshi.
Jerram Falkus Construction Limited has stopped trading following a £42,200 fine imposed by the City of London Magistrates for safety violations leading to Renols Lleshi’s death.
What we know so far
A teenager tragically died after falling six storeys while working at a construction site in Acton, London. Renols Lleshi, 19, was involved in dismantling scaffolding from the rooftop garden of a 12-storey block of flats in the summer of 2023 when the accident occurred.
Lleshi stepped onto a covered ventilation shaft, which collapsed beneath him, leading to his fatal fall. An investigation found that the shaft had been inadequately covered with plasterboard and roofing foam, and health and safety inspections had failed to address the issue.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed that Jerram Falkus Construction Limited, the company overseeing the site, had been fined a total of £49,200 following the incident. The firm ceased trading last month. HSE inspector Natalie Prince remarked that “falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities” and called the incident “wholly avoidable.” Between 2023 and 2024, 51 construction workers lost their lives, with over half of those fatalities resulting from falls from height.
Lleshi’s father expressed gratitude for the HSE’s investigation efforts but conveyed that “nothing anybody can do can bring our loved one back or lessen our grief in any way.”
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Labourer, 19, fell to his death through ventilation shaft | News UK
A teenage construction worker in London plunged six storeys to his death in what was described as a wholly preventable accident at a building site.
Renols Lleshi, 19, was removing scaffolding from a rooftop garden of a 12-storey block of flats in Acton, west London in the summer of 2023.
He stepped onto what he thought was a covered vent, but the surface collapsed beneath him, and he fell six floors to his death.
An investigation revealed that the shaft had been improperly covered with just plasterboard and roofing foam, as the rooftop was never inspected during health and safety visits.
Lleshi’s father said: ‘We are grateful to the Health & Safety Executive for their efforts to investigate the accident and prosecute one of those responsible for Renols’s death.
‘However, nothing anybody can do can bring our loved one back or lessen our grief in any way.’
Jerram Falkus Construction Limited, the 140-year-old London-based firm was fined £42,200, £5,000 in costs and a £2,000 surcharge at City of London Magistrates on Wednesday. It stopped trading last month.
The Health and Safety Executive inspector Natalie Prince said: ‘Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries. This was a wholly avoidable incident that led to the death of a young man.’
From 2023 to 2024, 51 construction workers died and over half of these fatalities were from falls from height.
The HSE reports that an average of 21 deaths per year in the construction sector are due to falls from height.