Louth man fined after joiner injured in scaffold fall

Date:

19 October 2011

Release No:

HSE/243/11

A man from Louth has been fined after a joiner broke his leg falling from scaffolding in the town.

Self-employed Mario Mazzarella was working on scaffolding built for him by Panther Scaffolding at the Helal Restaurant on Mercer Row in Louth on 9 November 2009, when a bus collided with the structure that had been built out over the road, causing him to fall more than four metres to the ground. Passengers on the bus were unharmed.

Andrew Mark Judge, trading as Panther Scaffolding, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to ensure that the workers, who erected the scaffolding the day before, worked in a safe way and that the finished scaffolding was a safe structure for its user and vehicles moving through the town.

After the hearing HSE inspector Martin Giles said:

"The scaffolding should have been erected in a safe manner, and the finished scaffold should not have jutted out over the road at a height where it could be a danger to passing traffic. The failure to provide adequate scaffolding was caused by inadequate planning before work started and a failure to check that the finished scaffold was safe before handing it over.

"Work at height remains a major cause of injury and fatalities in the workplace and for this reason it is important that, where such work is undertaken, then appropriate planning, supervision and safety measures are essential. This becomes even more critical when a job involves work in places like the centre of Louth which expose the public to the risks from scaffolding work."

Mr Judge, 44, of Old Main Road, Scamblesby, Louth, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Skegness Magistrates' Court today. He was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £3,739 costs.

Last year more than 4,000 employees suffered major injuries after falling from height at work, and 21 workers in the construction industry died. For more information on slips, trips and falls go to www.hse.gov.uk/shatteredlives

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 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: "Every employer shall ensure that work at height is carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe."
3. Regulation 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."
4. Visit here: www.hse.gov.uk/falls for more guidance on working at height.
5. HSE information and news releases can be accessed at: www.hse.gov.uk/press

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