Construction firm fined for dangerous site

Date:

12 February 2013

Release No:

NE/012/13

A construction firm has been fined for exposing workers to risks of falling from height and other safety failings at a site in Newcastle city centre.

Stoneforce Ltd, of Hertfordshire, was the main contractor hired to carry out work on the refurbishment of a new retail store in Northumberland Street, which started in September 2011 and lasted for several months.

The Stoneforce Ltd site in Northumberland Street

Newcastle Magistrates' Court heard today (12 February) that a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector visited the site on 14 September 2011 and advised Stoneforce Ltd of its legal obligations when managing the site.

A number of complaints about the site were received by HSE in late February 2012, including allegations of risks relating to falls from height and concerns about poor housekeeping and a lack of welfare facilities. These prompted a further inspection on 21 February 2012.

Several safety failings were found, one so serious that a Prohibition Notice was served relating to a risk of falls from height from the edge of the roof.

A number of Improvement Notices were also served the following day relating to a lack of suitable and sufficient welfare facilities and for failing to keep the site in good order.

HSE brought today's prosecution as a result of the numerous failings identified at the site and the fact that some had previously been brought to the company's attention.

Stoneforce Ltd, of Hardy House, Northbridge Road, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, was fined a total of £10,000 (£2,000 for each offence) after it pleaded guilty to two breaches of Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005; and three breaches within the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The company was also ordered to pay £5,195.70 costs.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Andrea Robbins said:

The Stoneforce Ltd site in Northumberland Street

"Numerous failings were found on this site, including serious risks from falls from height that could have resulted in major injuries or even death.

"Falls from height are still the largest cause of deaths in the construction industry, accounting for half of all fatalities and more than a quarter of all major injuries.

"In addition, several thousand construction workers are injured each year as a result of a slip or trip and it should have been clear that workers were at risk of serious personal injury as a result of the lack of good order on this site.

"There was also a lack of suitable and sufficient welfare facilities on the site, with the only sanitary provision being four portable toilets, which were not well lit and were not kept in a clean and orderly condition. There were also no suitable washing facilities in the toilet area. Such facilities are a basic human right."

The latest HSE statistics show that almost 3,000 people suffered a major injury while working in the construction industry in Great Britain and 50 lost their lives. Information on construction safety can be found on the HSE website 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. Stoneforce Ltd pleaded guilty to two breaches of Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which states: "Every employer shall ensure that when work is carried out at height, suitable and sufficient measures are taken to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, employees falling a distance liable to cause injury."
3. Stoneforce Ltd pleaded guilty to one breach of Regulation 22(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which states: "The principal contractor for a project shall - ensure that welfare facilities sufficient to comply with the requirements of Schedule 2 are provided throughout the construction phase."
4. Stoneforce Ltd pleaded guilty to one breach of Regulation 27(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, which states: "Every part of a construction site shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be kept in good order and every part of a construction site which is used as a place of work shall be kept in a reasonable state of cleanliness."
5. Stoneforce Ltd pleaded guilty to one breach of Regulations 27(3)(b) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, which states: "No timber or other material with projecting nails (or similar sharp object) shall - be allowed to remain in any place.

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