Company fined after wall collapses on Wigan worker

Date:

12 November 2009

Release No:

HSE/NW/043HughesBrothers/09

A construction company in Leigh has been ordered to pay £11,517 after one of its workers was seriously injured when a wall collapsed on him in Wigan.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Hughes Brothers Building & Joinery Ltd following the incident at its site on Millers Lane in Platt Bridge.

The company, which is based in Hope Carr Way in Leigh, pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act at Trafford Magistrates Court today. It was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,517.

The court heard that the worker - Scott Hutchinson of Golborne - was helping to demolish offices at the site on 15 July 2008 when a wall collapsed on him. He suffered multiple injuries including fractures to his left leg, collar bone and arm, and injuries to the vertebrae in his upper and lower back and is has yet to return to work..

HSE Inspector Tom Merry said:

"This employee was seriously injured because the company failed to manage the demolition of the building properly.

"The risk assessment that the company produced did not fully indentify the dangers workers would face. A Hughes Brothers manager briefly told his employees what he wanted, but failed to stay on the site to check his instructions were followed.

"More shockingly, only one of the workers had previous experience of demolition work but he did not stay on the site the whole time. The others had neither the experience nor qualifications needed to demolish buildings.

"This incident demonstrates how important it is for companies to take health and safety seriously, rather than just hoping for the best."

Hughes Brothers Building & Joinery Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

More information on construction safety is available at www.hse.gov.uk/construction.

Notes to editors

1. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."

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