A construction firm has been sentenced for safety failings after a roofer was badly injured in a fall from scaffolding at a house in Trafford.

Stephen Cartwright fell approximately three metres from the scaffolding, which had no safety rail, at a detached property on Carrwood, in Hale Burns, on 31 May 2011.

The 44-year-old, from Blacon near Chester, landed on a flat garage roof and sustained serious injuries to his right leg, including a dislocated knee and broken bones.

The Health & Safety Executive investigated the incident and immediately served six enforcement notices on his employer New Generation (Manchester) Ltd, stopping some work activities at the site and requiring improvements to be made.

Trafford Magistrates Court was told on Friday the scaffolding was in a poor condition and there were unprotected gaps in the floors and walls, all of which could have led to someone being injured in a fall.

New Generation (Manchester) was prosecuted for three breaches of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 by HSE for failing to properly plan and manage the work, for failing to provide a safe place to work, and for failing to ensure the site was in a good state.

The company, of Sackville Street in Manchester pleaded guilty all three offences. It was fined £3,900 and ordered to pay £4,000 in prosecution costs on Friday 11 May.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Ian Betley, said: “The state of the Carrwood site was an absolute disgrace when we visited it, and we immediately issued six enforcement notices to ensure the safety of the people working there.

“New Generation failed to plan the work properly or to manage it effectively. As a result, Stephen Cartwright suffered major injury and other lives were put in danger.

“Health and safety laws exist for a reason, and if this company had taken notice of them then Mr Cartwright’s fall could have been avoided.”

Via: placenorthwest.co.uk

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SPECIALIST rescue teams are to dismantle scaffolding at the side of a house that was hit by a coach in Wigmore this morning.

It is understood that a school bus had just dropped off children at the local village school shortly before the collision happened near the Ye Olde Oak Inn pub at 8.50am.

Minor damage was cuased to the house, which was unoccupied at the time and is currently undergoing renovation.

The A4110 road into the village is closed at present and will remain so for some time while the scaffolding is safely removed and the coach taken away.

The bus had only the driver on board at the time, who was uninjured.

“It seems as if the coach had come around the corner and hit the scaffolding,” said Station Commander Bob Sproat.

“The emphasis is on making the scene safe and make sure that we can bring this matter to a safe resolution.”

Via: herefordtimes.com

Who are Bettertax ?

Bettertax are tax refund specialists and work exclusively for Tradesmen. The idea behind the company was for us to assist guys in the trade with the recovery of overpaid tax, their business expenses and managing their dealings with HMRC. We’ve been lucky enough to establish great relationships within a number of trades in the construction industry; however, the Scaffs community is without doubt our strongest, with around 55 – 65% of our current client base being both on and off-shore Scaffolders. Around 95% of which, have come off the back of recommendations from you, your colleagues or friends in the industry.

We know that a lot of self-employed Tradesmen struggle to get their returns completed in time for a variety of different reasons and also that an incredible amount of PAYE guys still aren’t even aware that they were entitled to a refund. So we decided to pull together a group of people with a mix of experience and expertise in Accountancy, Tax, IT and the Construction industry to form Bettertax and develop our system…which from what others are saying, manages to out-perform our competition time and again.

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SCAFFOLDING and painting services group Pyeroy increased sales last year as it won more business in the growing UK offshore oil and gas sector.

The Gateshead firm reported that turnover rose to by more than £14m to £74m in 2011, although its pre-tax profit dipped from £3.5m last year to £2.9m.

The company has been involved in projects such as the painting of the Forth Rail Bridge, and has operated in a range of sectors from marine to highways, railways, renewables, utilities and the chemical and process industries.

Pyeroy said it had a healthy forward order book of more than £135m, up from a reported £120m last year.

It added that there had been significant growth in work from the onshore and offshore sectors, including the provision of access systems to companies like Heerema Fabrication Group.

Managing director Hugh Pelham said: “Despite the continuing economic pressures, this is a great set of results that reflects how well we are meeting the needs of our customers.

“It enables us to focus on delivering quality, which is what’s required when you want to work for the likes of Network Rail, Babcock Marine and BAE Systems, and is seeing us emerge strongly from the some of the worst trading conditions for decades.”

Pyeroy started life as a protective coatings contracting firm in 1973, but added new strings to its bow when a number of North East shipyards closed during the mid-90s.

It now employs around 1,200 staff in offices around the UK and Ireland. It is working on a range of multi-million- pound contracts, such as providing bespoke access units for the construction of a compression module for Teesside’s Wilton Engineering Services. It is also helping to re-fit several Royal Navy vessels such as HMS Northumberland and HMS Torbay, as well as removing and disposing of asbestos in the Arabian Gulf.

Its continuing projects include the £150m contract for painting and access services on the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers, while it finished work on Tower Bridge and the Forth Rail Bridge in 2011.

Pyeroy recently opened offices in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth to accommodate demand for its services. The company also provides electrical engineering support, as well as industrial cleaning and installation of insulation.

Pelham said: “Looking forward, we are now well-placed to see continuing strong growth across all areas of the business through our strategy of added value, further cementing our position as a market leader.”

Via: nebusiness.co.uk

Scaffolding on the front of a Southsea hotel collapsed this morning crushing six parked cars.

Strong winds are thought to have brought down the independent scaffold on The Royal Beach Hotel, Southsea.

The scaffolding was erected for painting up to the fifth floor of the hotel.

Local police announced that there were no body in the parked vehicles and no injurys were reported after the scaffolding collapsed.

One of the crushed car owners said: “Thank goodness nobody was killed, that’s the main thing.

“But I’m a bit upset about the car. I haven’t been allowed to get under there to have a good look but I think it’s a write-off.”

Written By Daniel Norton

Harsco Infrastructure have today announced major wins in European orders totalling more than $35 million for the groups industrial and commercial sectors.

BASF Group chemical complex in Antwerp, Belgium has given Harsco a three-year contract extension for onsite insulation maintenance services. The chemical complex is the largest processing site in Belgium and the second largest BASF plant in the world. This new contract extension represents a 50 percent increase in work over Harsco’s previous contact at the plant.

BASF Group chemical complex in Antwerp, Belgium

Harsco Infrastructure Group CEO Ivor J. Harrington said, “Onsite reliability has been a key requirement of BASF, as has maintaining safe working practices and a consistent, high level of quality. This renewed framework agreement demonstrates that Harsco continues to meet all of these requirements, and at a level that has earned us an expanded role from of one of the world’s largest blue-chip chemical companies.”

Another major win for the group are new orders to support three large-scale requirements in the shipyard maintenance and commercial construction sectors. Under the first two, Harsco will provide scaffolding and access equipment services through the main contractor Keppel Verolme for maintenance of two major deepwater construction vessels, including the Heerema Marine Contractors’ SSCV Thialf, the largest crane vessel in the world, as well as the Scarabeo 6, a semi-submersible drilling rig owned and operated by Saipem.

Harsco also won the order for delivering access services for another large crane vessel, DSV Balder, this time working directly for Heerema Marine Contractors. The orders continue Harsco’s growing role in the specialized maritime maintenance sector and add to Harsco’s previously-announced scaffolding support of the Saipem 7000, the world’s second largest deepwater crane vessel.

In addition to its industrial plant and shipyard orders, Harsco has also received a new order to begin work on the second phase of a major construction project in France, the new Les Terrasses du Port retail complex in the city of Marseille. Harsco is providing a full range of aluminium shoring, modular slab formwork, powered access and mechanical access to the project, supporting overall construction lead VINCI. Due for completion in the spring of 2014, the Terrasses du Port will be a 580,000 square foot (54,000 m²) complex filled with internationally-recognized retail outlets, 25 restaurants, a viewing terrace and other leisure facilities. Harsco’s formwork and shoring equipment is being used to create more than 860,000 ft² (80,000 m²) of concrete superstructure slabs, some of which will be almost 20 feet (6 m) thick.

“With our restructuring nearing completion, the resulting improvements we’ve made in market position and increased sales efforts are reflected in these awards. They clearly demonstrate Harsco’s growing ability to win multi-service roles with large-scale global construction partners and industrial plant operators,” said Mr. Harrington.

A accident inquiry has found that a scaffolder died in a 25ft fall from a house scaffold should of been wearing a harness.

Image source: news.stv.tv

Dundee Sheriff Court has found that George Carr, 67, died of multiple injuries from his fall from height.

The accident happened on June 16, 2011, Mr Carr had been helping a friend carry out roof repairs to a property in Sommerville Place, Dundee.

The Inquiry

The Health and Safety Executive carried out a full investigation and  gave evidence at the Sheriff Court. The court heard how Mr Carr who had been a scaffolder for over 30 years had been helping out as a favour.

Mr Carr had lost his balance, fallen and been fatally injured as a result.

Sheriff Thomas Hughes said: “I find that the defect in the system of working, which contributed to the death, was the failure to use a harness and the failure to install a guard rail at the end of the scaffolding on which Mr. Carr had been working.”

He also added: “This incident is a tragic demonstration of why health and safety regulations must be complied with. If Mr. Carr had been wearing a harness it is unlikely that he would have sustained his injuries and he would have been protected by the use of a guard rail. Unfortunately persons who do not abide by the Regulations, do so at their peril.”

Written by Daniel Norton

Cape’s Saudi Arabia operations are proud to have won a Gold award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in the 2012 Occupational Health and Safety Awards.

RoSPA is the largest and longest-running programme of its kind in the UK, awarding commitment to accident and ill health prevention. The scheme looked not only at Cape’s accident records, but also at our overarching health and safety management systems, including important practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

Cape’s Saudi Arabia operations are leaders in the fields of insulation, refractory, painting, scaffolding, fireproofing and IMG works.

Michael Dismore, Operations Director for Cape Northern Gulf, commented:

“We are delighted to receive this highest tier of award from RoSPA, recognising Cape Saudi Arabia’s unwavering commitment to health and safety – a dedication which runs throughout the Cape organisation.”

David Rawlins, awards manager at RoSPA, said:

“The RoSPA Awards programme provides well-deserved recognition for the winners and spurs on other organisations to raise their standards of accident and ill health prevention. We congratulate Cape RB Hilton Saudi Arabia Ltd on its success and encourage it, and all our other winners, to remain committed to safety and health, an approach that is well recognised to be good for workers and the bottom line.”

Via: Press Release

A former scaffolding company director has been fined after two employees were injured in a scaffold collapse.

A 26-year-old man working for Robert Leslie Butler fractured his left ankle and right heel as he jumped six metres from a scaffold tower at student accommodation on Radford Boulevard, Nottingham, on 24 January 2011, as it fell to the ground.

Image source: ppconstructionsafety.com

A second employee, 46, was working at a height of around 10 metres. He managed to hang on to the scaffold as it fell. It crashed into the building opposite and he was able to slide down to the ground, suffering minor injuries.

The men, both of whom have asked not to be named, were in the process of dismantling the scaffold.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the scaffold tower had not been erected to industry standards and had not been fitted with adequate ties to secure it to the building.

Robert Leslie Butler, 46, of Owthorpe Close, Top Valley, Nottingham pleaded guilty breaching Regulations 4(1)(c) and 8(b)(ii) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by virtue of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Today Nottingham magistrates fined him a total of £3,000 and ordered him to pay costs of £2,000.

After the hearing HSE inspector Kevin Wilson said:

“The two men were extremely luck to survive this incident. There was no safe sequence of work in place to dismantle the tower. The fact the scaffold only had ties at the top meant that as soon as they were removed a collapse was inevitable.

“Work at height should be properly planned and a safe system of work developed. Mr Butler failed his employees in both respects.”

At the time of the incident Mr Butler was director of RB & Son Scaffolding Limited. The company has since been dissolved.

Via: hse.gov.uk