Driver crushed during Old Trafford demolition

Date:

16 November 2012

A demolition firm has appeared in court after part of a stand collapsed onto an excavator driver at Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

The 33-year-old worker from Warrington, who has asked not to be named, suffered serious injuries when a two-tonne concrete slab landed on his vehicle's cab.

Warrington-based Excavation and Contracting (UK) Ltd was today (16 November 2012) prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an investigation into the incident at the Talbot Road ground, home to Lancashire County Cricket Club, on 26 April last year.

Trafford Magistrates' Court heard the company had been hired to demolish a two-tier stand at the stadium. However, the work had not been planned properly and the excavator had been positioned too close to the stand being demolished.

The worker sustained fractures to both legs in several places and severe cuts and bruising when a four-metre wide slab fell from the upper floor onto his vehicle.

Excavation and Contracting (UK) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 by failing to ensure the safety of workers and failing to plan and carry out the demolition work safely.

The company, of West Quay Road in Warrington, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £12,000 in prosecution costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Alan Pojur said:

"The excavator driver was lucky not to have been killed when the two-tonne concrete slab collapsed onto his cab.

"His life was put in danger because Excavation and Contracting (UK) Ltd didn't plan the work properly.

"They should have arranged for a high-reach excavator to be used so that the stand could be demolished from a safe distance away. It was only after the incident that this safe method of work was implemented.

"Demolition work has the potential to be extremely dangerous so it is vital firms plan projects properly and provide appropriate supervision to make sure workers stay safe."

The latest figures show that 50 construction workers were killed while at work in Great Britain in 2010/11, and there were nearly 3,000 major injuries. Information on improving safety is available at www.hse.gov.uk/construction.

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. Section 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."
3. Regulation 29(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 states: "The demolition or dismantling of a structure, or part of a structure, shall be planned and carried out in such a manner as to prevent danger or, where it is not practicable to prevent it, to reduce danger to as low a level as is reasonably practicable."

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by the Regional News Network