Company director jailed following the death of two construction workers

Martin Gutaj, a company director who was convicted after he failed to undertake an adequate risk assessment and offer training to two construction workers who fell to their deaths lifting a sofa at height has been sentenced.
The 44 years old director was sentenced at the Old Bailey Friday, July 7, 2017 to 14 month imprisonment for each death to run concurrently and was barred from being a company director for the next four years.   Gutaj was found guilty of two counts of failure to discharge a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees, contrary to section 33 (1) and section 71 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
His company was also fined £1.2million for each death and £650,000 for breaches of Health and Safety Regulations after the court heard how Tomasz Procko, 22 and Kyrol Szymanski, 29, both Polish nationals went to work that day and never returned home.

The men were working at a construction site in Cadogan Square run by Gutaj's company. During the course of the day the men were asked to perform a lifting operation at height without supervision and the requisite training. Both workmen fell after railings on the balcony gave way whilst the furniture was being manoeuvred into premises.

Tomasz Procko was pronounced dead at the scene. Karol Szymanski was taken to a central London hospital in a critical condition where he later died.