A CONSTRUCTION worker suffered serious spinal injuries when part of a floor collapsed at the new Sainsbury's regional distribution centre in the Waltham Point development in Waltham Abbey.o

The 29-year-old man was working on the steel-framed building when part of the floor gave way beneath him.

An Essex Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the steel fixer fell 25ft onto a rubble floor and severed his spinal cord on impact.

Paramedics rushed to the building site off Sewardstone Road but because of the severity of the man's injuries, an air ambulance was summoned to fly him to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.

He spent the night in the intensive care unit before he was flown by Essex Air Ambulance to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, Middlesex.

Officers from the Health and Safety Executive were called to the site just hours after the incident, which happened at about 12.45pm on Wednesday, February 13.

A Health and Safety Executive spokeswoman said: "The man fell 7m to the ground when a pre-cast concrete floor plank gave way beneath him. He suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung and serious injuries to his back. We are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident."

The man, who lives in Lincoln, was working for subcontractor Steelcraft Erection Services based in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. It is not clear if he was wearing a safety harness.

A company spokesman refused to comment when contacted by the Guardian on Tuesday.

The man is one of an army of construction workers at the distribution centre which is being built by Kier Group Plc.

February 20, 2002 17:00