A scaffolding company has been fined £28,000 after a tool fell from height into a busy street, narrowly missing pedestrians below.
Access Ltd, trading as Access Scaffolding, admitted failing to protect the public from the risk of falling objects while erecting scaffolding on the Pollet in Guernsey in January 2024.
The incident occurred during lunchtime when an impact wrench tool weighing between 2.3kg and 3.8kg plummeted several metres from the scaffold and landed on the road. CCTV footage captured a pedestrian flinching as the tool struck the ground just behind him.
A passer-by who witnessed the near-miss reported the incident to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), prompting an investigation.
The Royal Court heard that Access Ltd had failed to ensure proper safety measures were in place, despite the high risk posed by the scaffold’s location on a narrow street crowded with shoppers.
Judge Catherine Fooks said the company had a duty to protect both employees and the public from harm, particularly in such a hazardous industry.
The court was told that the ratchet tool had been carried in a holster but was untethered. It became detached when a worker climbed through a hatch between decked lifts.
Prosecutor Advocate Chris Dunford explained that safety barriers beneath the scaffold had not been positioned correctly at the time, channelling pedestrians through what effectively became a construction site.
Following the incident, the barriers were moved further into the street, but Access Ltd was found to have initially misled the HSE by claiming this adjustment had been made beforehand.
Further investigation revealed that two of the four employees on site were untrained, and the training certificates of the other two had expired weeks earlier. There was also no supervision at the time of the incident.
Defending the company, Advocate Alan Merrien said Access Ltd accepted it had made a mistake by allowing a delivery lorry to park across the street instead of beside the scaffold, a change made following a complaint from a shop owner. He argued that the site had experienced workers present, including two charge-hands with 45 years of experience between them, and that supervision did not require minute-by-minute oversight.
The company had no prior convictions, but the court heard it had been the subject of three separate HSE investigations in recent years regarding work at height.
Judge Fooks said the company had been previously advised to improve its approach to health and safety and criticised its failure to ensure adequate training and supervision on this occasion.
Access Ltd was fined £28,000 for breaching health and safety regulations.
