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Arcoservices > Falls from Height > UNTRAINED SCAFFOLDER LOSES LEG AFTER FALL

UNTRAINED SCAFFOLDER LOSES LEG AFTER FALL

Injury unreported for over 6 months despite previous warning

Mills Scaffold Company Ltd has been prosecuted after a workman with no recognised training as a scaffolder fell during scaffold dismantling operations on a project in Wales during June 2013.

Andrew Gore, aged 37, was involved in dismantling scaffolding outside a nursing home in when he fell around four metres to the ground.

The court heard the scaffold was three lifts high and Mr Gore was working on the second lift. A fellow workman was on the lift above, passing down components which he passed on to a labourer on the ground.

Mr Gore was not wearing a harness and the platform was two boards wide with no guard rails. He released the swivel coupling at the bottom of a brace, which he leant on inadvertently. The brace moved and he fell to the ground. He has spent most of the last year in hospital and undergone a number of operations.

The incident was reported to HSE six months later following an insurance claim and after Mr Gore had his lower leg amputated because of infection following the injury. The company was issued with a Prohibition Notice by HSE in 2012 for a similar offence.

HSE’s investigation found that Mr Gore had not been given training in the safe erection or dismantling of scaffolding.

Totally needless incident

Mills Scaffold Company Ltd of Church Street, Mountain Ash, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work at Height regulations and Reporting of Injuries Regulations, as the incident was not reported to HSE. The company was fined a total of £15,000 and ordered to pay £1,118 in costs.

HSE Inspector Hayley Healey, speaking after the hearing, said:

“Mr Gore has suffered a great deal of pain and life changing injuries. As a single parent of two young children, one of whom he has custody for, his life has changed dramatically.

This was a totally needless incident which could have been avoided if Mills Scaffold Company had ensured a safe system of work had been in place. And it was their responsibility to make sure trained workers were used on the scaffolding. There is plenty of industry guidance available about safely dismantling scaffolding.

If simple methods of work had been followed, levels of competency checked and good supervision in place on site, this work could have been carried out safely. Falls from height remains one of the most common causes of fatalities and major injuries in the construction industry, with more than five incidents every day.”

 

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