Steelwork design company fined £100,000 following death of 16-year-old

HSE press release E001:04 - 6 January 2004

Conder Structures Ltd of Staffordshire was today fined a total of £100,000 following the death of a 16-year-old ground worker in an incident in which two structural steel columns were blown down by the wind. This incident also resulted in another worker being struck a glancing blow.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution followed the accident, which occurred on 28 November 2000 during the erection of a steel-framed building designed by Conder Structures Ltd and erected by their subcontactors at the Project Arrow construction site, Magna Park, Lutterworth, Leicestershire.

Christopher Kesterton, who had left school only weeks before the accident, was employed by a firm of ground workers for two weeks and was killed after being struck by the falling 17-metre tall steel column, weighing almost two tonnes.

Lee William Neal, supervisor of the steel erection team, was supervising Christopher who was using a pneumatic breaker. Two columns were blown over in the wind after they had been bolted down at their bases but were otherwise freestanding. The two workers were near the columns and ran to escape following a shouted warning. Whilst Lee Neal escaped without serious injury, Christopher was killed instantly.

The two steel columns fell principally because the steel erectors had been unable to fit stabilising wedges between the columns' base plates and the concrete foundation, and the columns had been left free-standing. The steel work design had been calculated using a wind speed of only 25 mph, and the lack of wedges significantly increased the forces on the column holding down bolts. The bolts failed when the columns began to sway in the relatively moderate winds of 30 mph that were blowing on the day of the accident.

Conder Structures Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSW Act), for failing to ensure the safety of a person not in their employment, at Leicester Crown Court, on Friday 4 July 2003. The company admitted that the activities of their subcontractors were not adequately and competently supervised so as to ensure the safe erection of steel columns.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the design for the building included adequate health and safety information, contrary to Regulation 13 (2) (b) of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 1994 at Northampton Crown Court, on Friday 3 October 2003.

Today Conder Structures Limited was fined a total of £100,000 (£60,000 for breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and £40,000 for breach of duties under Regulation 13 (2) (b) of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 1994) and ordered to pay £59374.51 costs at Leicester Crown Court.

HSE Inspector Mark Hatfield said: ''This tragic accident occurred because a subcontractor had not been informed by the designer of the maximum wind speed in which the columns could be safely erected free standing; the number and arrangement of the wedges required; or the importance of the base wedging. As a consequence, the steel erectors failed to appreciate the consequences of leaving these particular structural steel columns unwedged and freestanding in wind conditions that were quite normal for the time of year. The failure to adequately and competently supervise the subcontract steel erectors compounded the problem.

"All designers should remember the critical part they play in the safety of the construction process. They need to have robust systems to ensure that designs are carried out or are supervised by trained and competent persons; that quality review procedures cover the most dangerous conditions in the life-time of a structure; and, that safety critical information is passed on to those who need to know it''.

Sentencing the company, Judge Christopher Metcalf urged the construction industry to agree on safe levels of windspeed for putting up steel frames such as the one which killed Christopher Kesterton.

He said: " I find it extraordinary that we came to court in the first place with no clear guidelines for the industry".

This is Conder Structures Ltd's second prosecution for a fatality caused by falling steel work.

The company has previously been prosecuted following the death in 1996 of an employee who was struck by a falling roof truss being fabricated in the firm's factory.

Notes to editors

1. Section 3 (1) of HSWA 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 and safety."

2. Regulation 13 (2) of CDM states that ''Every designer shall -

1. (not relevant to the case)
2. ensure that the design includes adequate information about any aspect of the project or structure or materials (including articles or substances) which might affect the health or safety of any person at work carrying out construction work or cleaning work in or on the structure at any time or of any person who may be affected by the work of such a person at work.
3. (not relevant to the case).''

3. Regulation 13 (3) of CDM states that: ''Sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph (2) shall require the design to include only the matters referred to therein to the extent that it is reasonable to expect the designer to address them at the time the design is prepared and to the extent that it is otherwise reasonably practicable to do so''.

4. Conder Structures Ltd entered no plea at Market Harborough Magistrates' Court on 22 May 2003 when the case was committed to the Crown Court. Conder Structures Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of HSWA at Leicester Crown Court on 4 July 2003, and to contravening Regulation 13 (2) (b) of CDM at Northampton Crown Court on 3 October 2003.

Press enquiries

All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the HSE Press Office