Life-changing injuries for worker in scaffold fall
A scaffolding company and its director have been fined for safety failings after a worker suffered life-changing injuries in a 2.5 metre fall from a scaffold platform at a property in Kent.
The worker, who was untrained, fell from the first lift of the scaffold as it was being dismantled. He was passing boards down to another worker when he lost his footing and fell to the concrete below.
The man, from Rainham, Kent, who does not wish to be named, suffered severe head injuries and needed surgery to remove the frontal lobe of the brain. He spent many weeks in hospital and is unlikely to be able to work again.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today (6 Nov) prosecuted Paramount Scaffolding Ltd and director Luke Jessup, both of Gillingham, Kent after investigating the incident at the house in Meopham, near Gravesend, on 25 January this year.
Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court heard that Paramount Scaffolding had a three-man team on site to dismantle the scaffolding. Director Luke Jessup was the only trained scaffolder among them.
The injured worker was standing on the first level of the scaffold and was lifting the boards and passing them to a colleague below. The platform had been six boards wide and was down to three when he lost his footing and fell. The edge protection had already been removed.
Paramount Scaffolding Ltd of Wigmore Road, Gillingham, and Luke Jessup of Wigmore Road, Gillingham, both pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Both Paramount and Mr Jessup were fined £2,000 with £1,000 costs each.
After the hearing HSE Inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said:
"This is a very stark example of the tragedy that can result from a task carried out at height without proper thought and planning. It has resulted in life-changing injuries for the worker and has had a devastating impact on his family. In addition, Mr Jessup was a personal friend, and he also has to live with the consequences of his role in the incident.
"What happened that day was totally preventable if simple working methods had been followed and the untrained workers had been more closely and better supervised to ensure they carried out the work safely.
"The scaffolding industry has produced guidance on the safe working methods to follow and this case sadly reflects the harsh reality of not doing so."
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. Information on carrying out work safely at height is available at www.hse.gov.uk/falls.
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 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: "Every employer shall ensure that work at height is (a) properly planned; (b) appropriately supervised; and (c) carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe, and that its planning includes the selection of work equipment in accordance with regulation 7."