Contractors fined after scaffold collapse

Date:

15 March 2011

Release No:

COISE/1503b

Two building contractors have been fined after two men were injured when scaffolding collapsed at a building site in East Sussex.

Roofers, Billy Smith and Ashley Burton, fell more than three metres to the ground below when a scaffold gave way because other workmen began digging a trench near the base of the framework.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted both partners from Select Estates Ltd, of Hurst Green, for breaching the health and safety laws which led to the incident.

Brighton Magistrates' Court heard a number of roofers at the new housing development in London Road, Hurst Green, were standing on scaffolding between two semi-detached houses. The scaffolding was loaded with tiles.

Down below, in order to install drain and sewer systems, two ground workers began digging a trench next to the foot standings of the scaffold. The standings of the scaffold were undermined by the removal of dirt to create the trench, which slipped into the trench.

As a result of the incident, Mr Smith from Kemsing, Kent, injured his lower back while Mr Burton, from Sevenoaks, Kent, received cuts to his head and tore a muscle in his shoulder. He was off work for two months.

One of the injured men, Ashley Burton, said the incident had affected him deeply and admitted to still being nervous about climbing scaffolding to do his work.

The court was told the incident was caused by a number of parties carrying out their allotted tasks with little regard for others in terms of co-operation and co-ordination.

The scaffold was overloaded with people and building materials and there was no suitable site supervision nor management of the tasks to be undertaken.

HSE's Inspector Russell Smith said:

"Falls from height are the biggest causes of workplace deaths and it's crucial that employers make sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out to protect staff from these risks."

"In this case, it is extremely fortunate that nobody was killed, however, it could have been so much worse. If there was adequate management of the construction site, this incident could easily have been prevented."

John Marton, Principal Contractor of Select Estates Ltd of Hurst Green pleaded guilty to regulation 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 at court today (15 March). He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,832.

Martin Taylor, Principal Contractor of the same company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 at court today. He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,832.

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 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 states: "The principal contractor for a project shall (a) plan, manage and monitor the construction phase in a way which ensures that, so far as is reasonably practicable, it is carried out without risks to health or safety, including facilitating, (i) co-operation and co-ordination between persons concerned in the project in pursuance of regulations 5 and 6, and (ii) the application of the general principles of prevention in pursuance of regulation 7.

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR South East