Firm failed to follow risk assessment and method statement

A scaffolding contractor has been fined £160,000 after a scaffold ‘clip’ fell approximately 20m striking and injuring a member of the public walking below on 20th March 2017.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard that the injured person was walking along Upper Street in Islington, London when he was struck on the head by the falling clip. 

He sustained numerous cuts to his head and face, a broken nose and a severely bruised skull.

• Alandale Plant & Scaffolding Ltd – of Beckenham, Kent pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,059.08 and a victim surcharge of £170.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Sarah Robinson commented:

“This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.

On this occasion the company did not follow their own risk assessments or method statements.”

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An Essex scaffolder and a labourer he employed risked their lives and endangered the public around them with precarious and unsafe work at a Chelsea property.

Christopher Harker, 35, from Epping, trading as C&H Scaffolding, clambered up and down the outside of a four-storey scaffold in Cheyne Walk on 20 March 2014, completely unconcerned by the fact a fall could have proved fatal.

He and his assistant also casually leaned through openings up to 10 metres above the ground and nonchalantly passed materials to each other that could have slipped and caused serious harm to anyone walking below.

The unsafe work continued in full view of an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), despite Mr Harker knowing he was present and after the inspector had tried to warn him of the danger.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (19 November) that there was a complete absence of any form of edge protection on the scaffold to prevent or mitigate falls. Equally, neither worker was wearing a safety harness, there were no access ladders to some of the work areas, and there were large gaps between the boards that also posed a significant fall risk.

Mr Harker used a system where he moved boards from the upper and lower levels of the scaffolding depending on where he or the labourer were working, rather than ensuring that both areas were sufficiently boarded to begin with.

He also casually tossed objects and materials, such as scaffolding clips, to his colleague on the level below him. This not only put the assistant at risk as he moved to catch them, but also members of the public exiting a doorway directly under the scaffold, who could have been struck and injured.

The court was told that the police were required to attend the site such was Mr Harker’s hostile attitude towards the HSE inspector. It was only then that he accepted the risks he had created as the legal dutyholder responsible for the work.

He subsequently apologised unreservedly for his behaviour, complied with all aspects of the HSE investigation and vowed to undertake future scaffolding projects in a safe and legal manner.

Christopher Harker, of Coronation Hill, Epping, Essex, was fined a total of £800 and ordered to pay £577 in costs after pleading guilty to two separate breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The relatively low penalty reflected the defendant’s limited financial means, early guilty plea and full co-operation throughout.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers commented:

“The scaffolding work at Cheyne Walk posed a clear danger to the two workers as well as members of the public exiting the building under the scaffolding.

“The failings were abundantly obvious and trained scaffolder Mr Harker knew this, which is probably why he reacted in the manner he did. He was caught red-handed, panicked and tried to make the problem go away as he saw it.

“However, HSE inspectors cannot and will not turn a blind eye when safety is compromised in this manner – as the scaffolder now fully accepts. He understands that safety rules and standards are designed to protect life and limb, and that cutting corners in order to get a job done is simply not acceptable.”

Notes to Editors:

The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: “Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.”

Regulation 10(1) of the same Regulations states: “Every employer shall, where necessary to prevent injury to any person, take suitable and sufficient steps to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, the fall of any material or object.”

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Carefree scaffolders put themselves and passers-by in danger as they worked unsafely at height above a busy Covent Garden street, a court has heard.

A nearby member of the public was so concerned about an imminent fall in Tavistock Street on 20 June 2013 that they captured the work on camera and sent the images to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Clerkenwell-based JOS Scaffolding Limited was prosecuted yesterday (4 June) on the strength of the photographic evidence and a subsequent HSE investigation into safety failings.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard the firm was responsible for erecting a five-storey scaffold that was some ten metres above street level once complete.

 

The unsafe work was during the initial construction phase as the structure took shape. Pictures showed workers using unsecure and precariously balanced boards to access and pass materials to higher levels. They also showed a worker sitting near the top of the structure casually dangling his legs over the side.

Magistrates were told there was nothing in place at this point of the work to prevent or mitigate a fall of persons or equipment or materials. This in turn put anyone walking underneath or alongside the scaffold at risk.

HSE established the work was poorly planned and managed, and that two of the three-man team erecting the scaffold were lacking training and accreditation to prove their competence.

In short, the work fell well below the legally required standard – although both HSE and the court acknowledged that efforts had been made to improve standards once the failings were brought to the company’s attention.

JOS Scaffolding Limited, of Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1, was fined a total of £5,000 and ordered to pay £734 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers commented:

“Scaffolding work is fraught with risk and can be extremely dangerous if it isn’t carried out properly. The standards here were sorely lacking and the photographic evidence speaks for itself in terms of the risks taken.

“None of the missing measures, such as guard rails and secured boards and ladders, were difficult to provide, and there was no excuse.   “It isn’t just the workers themselves who could end up getting seriously hurt or killed. People should be able to walk along a pavement without having to worry about a piece of scaffold slipping from the hands of an overhead worker.

“Thankfully nobody was injured, but that doesn’t detract from JOS Scaffolding failing to ensure the work at height was properly planned, managed and executed in a safe manner. I would like to thank the concerned member of the public who brought the matter to our attention and who provided such clear visual evidence.”

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For further information about working safely at height visit www.hse.gov.uk/falls

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: “Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.”
3. Regulation 10(1) states: “Every employer shall, where necessary to prevent injury to any person, take suitable and sufficient steps to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, the fall of any material or object.”

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Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office.

(source)

Contractor prosecuted over dangerous practices and design errors

Darren Baker Scaffolding Limited has been fined for a catalogue of safety failings, including throwing and catching metal fittings over the heads of shoppers, during the erection of two scaffolds outside an Oxford department store.

The stability of the structures was undermined because the company failed to ensure the structures were properly configured, braced and tied. The HSE Scaffold Checklist covers scaffold design, training and competence of those erecting, dismantling, altering, inspecting and supervising scaffolding operations..

HSE told magistrates that (17 March) investigation uncovered a series of issues including:

• Metal fittings thrown from a flatbed lorry over the heads of passers-by;
• Scaffold poles hoisted above shoppers with no thought to their safety;
• Pedestrians forced to walk into the road with no measures to protect them from passing vehicles.
• Scaffolds not built to an approved safe design, inadequately braced and tied;
• Scaffolds poorly configured (potential for overloading) and loads not transferred safely to the ground.

The scaffolds were erected on the morning of Sunday 30 September 2012 when there was significant footfall in the area.

Oxford Magistrates’ Court heard that although nobody was injured the activity was inherently unsafe. There was a significant risk that the scaffold could have collapsed.

Little thought given to the safety of shoppers

Darren Baker Scaffolding Limited, of Cheshunt, Herts, was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered to pay a further £760 in costs after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and four breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After the hearing HSE inspector Peter Snelgrove commented:

“There were clear concerns with the manner in which the scaffolds were erected, as captured by CCTV. Then there are the failings with the structures themselves, the fact they weren’t built to an approved design and were inadequately tied and braced.

All scaffolds should be erected in a safe manner, but the risks are magnified when you are working in a busy city centre location with lots of traffic and pedestrians, as was the case here.

Little thought was given to shoppers as fittings and poles were tossed or passed over their heads, and today’s conviction serves to illustrate the seriousness of the failings we uncovered. Thankfully nobody was injured, but that is the only saving grace.”

(source)

A scaffolding firm has been fined for dangerous scaffold installations at sites in Wantage and Oxford.

 

Workers and passing members of the public alike were placed at risk because of faults with the structures, which included missing ties, bracing and vehicle impact protection.

West Hagbourne-based ASW Scaffolding Limited was prosecuted today (3 February) after the deficiencies were identified by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Oxford Magistrates’ Court heard that the first unsafe scaffold was installed in Grove Street, Wantage, in July 2012, to support the refurbishment of a retail unit.

When HSE inspectors visited the site on 17 July they found a lack of ties and missing ledger bracing, which are designed to provide support and rigidity. The scaffold was also lacking vehicle impact protection, which was vital at the location in question because the scaffold was on a very narrow street and could easily have been struck by a passing car. This in turn could have caused it to fall into the street.

HSE worked with Oxfordshire County Council to highlight the faults because the scaffold did not comply with a street licence that had been granted for the structure.

Satisfactory remedial work subsequently took place, but on 28 March 2013 a passing HSE inspector witnessed unsafe activity on another ASW scaffold on Banbury Road in Oxford.

On this occasion an employee was working on a partially-completed structure with no guard rails or other safety features to prevent a fall.

A Prohibition Notice was immediately served to stop any further work until it was made safe.

ASW Scaffolding Limited, of West Hagborne, south Oxfordshire, was fined a total of £15,000 and ordered to pay £5,438 in costs after pleading guilty to single breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector John Caboche commented:

“The faults we identified at the Wantage installation should have been immediately obvious from a simple check after it was erected, which is vital to ensure that everything is in place and as it should be.

“The scaffold lacked rigidity and could have been hit by a passing vehicle, putting workers and passers-by in danger had it come down.

“With regard to the Oxford structure, the standards for safe working at height are well known within the scaffolding industry. The failings here were compounded by a senior member of the company’s management seemingly turning a blind eye. He was on site at the time but did nothing to prevent the scaffolder working in this way.

“Both scaffolds fell short of the required safety standards and posed a clear risk.”

Further information on working safely at height can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/falls^[2]

Notes to Editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk^[3]
2. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”
3. Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: “Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.”

Press enquiries

Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office^[4].

Two companies were today sentenced over the incident at Dairy Crest premises at Davidstow near Camelford on 4 November, 2008.

Truro Crown Court heard today that Michael Stone, 44, of Hartley, Plymouth, was erecting a scaffold at the premises when the incident happened.

The court heard self-employed Mr Stone was contracting for specialist fabrication firm Dartmeet Services which was contracted to creamery owners Dairy Crest to replace the roof on the chemical store.

The building had fragile rooflights but Mr Stone had not been made aware of this and no signs or markings were evident to indicate the danger. The HSE investigation found Mr Stone and his employees were not requested to sign in to gain access to the roof and no-one at the site checked his risk assessment for the work.

Mr Stone landed on a concrete floor when he fell, suffering multiple injuries. He died in hospital seven days later.

Dairy Crest Ltd was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs for breaches of health and safety legislation in the case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The other defendant also in court for sentencing was the main contractor, Dartmeet Services, were fined £30,000 with £10,000 costs.

HSE Inspector, Barry Trudgian, said:

“This is yet another tragic fatality caused by working on a roof with fragile rooflights where the risks are well known. In this case, no-one involved took proper control to make Mr Stone aware of the issue.

“There should have been signs on the building indicating the presence of fragile rooflights and any work on the roof should have been subject to a thorough risk assessment and supervision.

“Simple, straightforward, commonsense procedures could have saved Mr Stone’s life.”

Dartmeet Services Ltd of Union Street, Newton Abbot, Devon pleaded guilty to breaches of Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Dairy Crest Ltd of Esher, Surrey pleaded guilty to breaches of Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 9(3) (a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Further information on working near rooflights can be found on the HSE website at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/geis5.htm^[1]

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk^[2]

2. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states: It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.

3. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 Regulation 4 states: that every employer shall ensure that work at height is properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is safe, so far as is reasonably practicable.

4. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 Regulation 9(3)(a) states that where any person at work may pass across or near, or work on, from or near, a fragile surface, every employer shall ensure that prominent warning notices are so far as is reasonably practicable affixed at the approach to the place where the fragile surface is situated. 5. HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press^[3].

(source)

Desborough Scaffolding Limited has been prosecuted and fined after shoppers were forced to run for safety from a scaffold which collapsed and fell some 20m at the Queen’s Square shopping centre on Corby on 17 August 2012. There were no injuries caused by the incident although several people required treatment for shock.

Northampton Magistrates heard that debris netting had been fitted to the scaffold. In high winds on the day the netting acted as a sail and caused the structure to collapse sending components and other materials raining to the ground below.

The falling scaffold smashed through shop canopies pulled down signs. Several businesses were forced to close while the clean-up took place and the area was made safe. The incident was captured on CCTV.

The HSE investigation found the scaffold had not been erected to ensure it would remain stable. The structure had not been designed by a competent person with adequate strength and rigidity.

Design should be able to withstand high wind loads without failing

Desborough Scaffolding Limited, of Desborough was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £4,678 in costs after pleading guilty to single breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sam Russell said:

“It was sheer luck that no-one was seriously injured or killed as a result of this totally preventable incident.

Scaffolding erected to an approved design by competent persons should be able to withstand high wind loads without failing.

This case highlights the requirement of following prescribed industry designs and manufacturers’ instructions. The company’s failure to do so put innocent workers and members of the public at significant risk.”

Watch on Youtube at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4vpUGIZYP4

(source)

Northamptonshire shoppers were forced to run for safety as a scaffold collapsed and fell some 20 metres towards them, a court has heard.

Nobody was hurt, but several people required treatment for shock as a result of the incident at the Willow Place Shopping Centre in Queen’s Square, Corby on 17 August 2012.

Local firm Desborough Scaffolding Limited, of Desborough, was prosecuted today (16 December) by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation established that the scaffold was structurally unsound.

Northampton Magistrates’ Court was told that debris netting had been fitted to the scaffolding tubes, but in high winds on the day it acted as a sail and caused the structure to pull away and apart – sending metal poles and other materials raining to the ground below. The falling scaffold smashed through shop canopies below and also pulled down signs. Several businesses were forced to close while the clean-up took place and the area was made safe. The incident was captured on CCTV.

The HSE investigation found the scaffold had not been erected in a way to ensure it would remain stable, and had not been designed by a competent person to ensure it had adequate strength and rigidity for the purpose and environment it was to be used in.

Desborough Scaffolding Limited, of Stoke Albany Road, Desborough, were fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £4,678 in costs after pleading guilty to single breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sam Russell said:

““It was sheer luck that no-one was seriously injured or killed as a result of this totally preventable incident.

“Scaffolding erected to an approved design by competent persons should be able to withstand high wind loads without failing.

“This case highlights the requirement of following prescribed industry designs and manufacturers’ instructions. The company’s failure to do so put innocent workers and members of the public at significant risk.”

For more information about working with scaffolding visit www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/scaffold.htm^[1]

Notes to Editors:

1. Regulation 8(a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: “Every employer shall ensure that, in the case of a guard-rail, toe-board, barrier or similar collective means of protection, Schedule 2 is complied with.”

2. Regulation 28(2) of the Construction (Design and Management Regulations) 2007 states: “Any buttress, temporary support or temporary structure must be of such design and so installed and maintained as to withstand any foreseeable loads which may be imposed on it, and must only be used for the purposes for which it is so designed, installed and maintained.”

3. CCTV footage of the incident is available from Regional News Network on 0115 872 4741

(source)

Slips, trips and falls have topped the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) 2013 safety report for the 10th year running.

The annual report, which documents the statistics for scaffolding safety in 2012 for all 201 of the NASC's contracting member companies, provides details of injuries and fatalities, and causes and analysis of accidents and injuries to operatives, third parties, and members of the public.

The statistics show that there was one fatality in 2012 and that slips, trips and falls are still the major cause of accidents and injuries in the industry, making up 34 per cent of all accidents and injuries.

The report reveals that with 52 per cent of accidents, scaffolders remain the most at risk, followed by labourers (25 per cent), trainees (10 per cent), advanced scaffolders (8 per cent), supervisors and drivers (both at 3 per cent), and managers (0 per cent).

The 21 – 30 age group is the most at risk, with more reported incidents than any other age rang. On a positive note, the report also reveals that the total number of injuries reduced from 145 to 134 from 2011 to 2012.

Manual handling injuries decreased significantly from 37 to 17, a reduction of 54 per cent. However, falls from height accidents increased from 27 to 32 in 2012.

The report obtained the accident statistics over a three-day and seven-day period, together with a comparison of NASC accident data with industry statistics supplied by the HSE.

NASC president, Rob Lynch, said: "The NASC's annual safety report is just one step in the right direction. By recording and sharing the problems we have had, we can focus our efforts on those areas needing most improvement.

"The NASC is proud of the part it has played in raising the bar for safe scaffolding. The expectations are incomparably higher now then they were at the millennium; just consider how far we have come and the vast volume of guidance and advice issued."

A PDF of the report is available at www.nasc.org.uk/safety_reports

Source

Alliance Building and Contracting Ltd, of Weybridge, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into the incident on 3 October 2011 identified safety failings.

Westminster Magistrates' Court was told today (10 July) the firm, which is now in voluntary liquidation, was the principal contractor for a demolition and build project at a site in Lillie Road, Fulham. A 16-metre length of scaffolding collapsed and fell from the first floor level to the ground below, covering the pavement and an entire traffic lane.

The collapse happened at lunchtime on a normally busy thoroughfare, just a short distance from a nursery and local schools.

HSE found that Alliance Building & Contracting Ltd had failed to properly manage the demolition phase of the work. The scaffold had been on the building site for a year and been left free-standing long after demolition had finished. The site had been left unattended for long periods and regular inspections of the scaffold for safety had not taken place.

Alliance Building & Contracting Ltd, of Monument Hill, Weybridge, was found guilty in their absence of a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Magistrates imposed a fine of £10,000 with costs of £7,190.

Speaking after the hearing, Inspector Charles Linfoot said:

"Scaffold collapses are infrequent in the construction industry, but when they occur, they often cause serious injury, fatalities and major damage.

"Lillie Road is a busy one and it is a matter of chance that the collapse, brought about by the safety failures of Alliance Building & Contracting, did not have more serious consequences.

"The case shows how important it is to actively manage all the risks on a construction site and, in particular, to make sure inspections of scaffolding are carried out regularly."

Source