Liverpool Crown Court heard that workers had been pumping concrete onto the third floor of the building for most of the day on 19 September 2007 when the supporting scaffolding holding up the concrete suddenly collapsed. The workers’ injuries included cement burns to their skin and eyes, and bone fractures.
The Health & Safety Executive investigation found both the principal contractor for the project, Wates Construction, and the concrete subcontractor, MPB Structures, allowed the supporting scaffolding to be erected from a preliminary design, clearly marked ‘for discussion and pricing purposes only.’
The drawing did not include all the information needed to erect the scaffolding correctly or safely. The companies also failed to ensure the scaffolding was checked before allowing the concrete to be poured.
Both companies admitted breaching the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 by putting workers at risk. Wates Construction, of Station Approach in Leatherhead, Surrey, was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £35,591 in prosecution costs on 10 April 2012. MPB Structures, of Crucible Road in Corby, Northamptonshire, was fined £50,000 with costs of £35,362.
Susan Ritchie, HSE inspector, said after the hearing: “This incident resulted in seven men falling roughly ten metres onto wet concrete which contained various bits of metal and wood.
“The companies should have made sure they had an appropriate design they could use to build from, and that the structure was inspected before the concrete was poured.
“Instead, more than 250 tonnes of concrete was poured onto scaffolding incapable of taking such loads and the inevitable happened – it collapsed. These basic errors could easily have resulted in several people losing their lives.
“This incident should act as a stark reminder that if you fail to plan and manage projects properly then there is a real potential for things to go seriously wrong.”
Last year, there were 50 workplace deaths and nearly 3,000 major injuries reported in the construction industry in Great Britain.
Wates Construction was charged with breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, which states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”
Dave Smith, chief operating officer for Wates Group, commented: “Safety is a core value at Wates and we remain committed to continuously improving our health and safety policies and procedures. We undertook our own internal investigation following this incident and have fully incorporated the findings and recommendations into our induction, training arrangements and policies.”
MPB Structures was charged with breaching Section 3(1) of the same Act. The section 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.”
Via: placenorthwest.co.uk The Voice of Scaffolding Since 2008 | U.K. Edition
The latest round of deals sees the group take on nationwide access specialist Generation Hire & Sales and Midlands-based MTD Scaffolding.
Generation Hire turns over around £40m and employs 220 staff, operating across 14 locations.
It sells and rents non mechanical access equipment, scaffolding, system scaffolding, fencing and some light access products.
Mark Clifford, managing director, and Alan Wilkinson, commercial and financial director, will continue with the business.
To date Altrad has bought up BarOmix, Belle Group, Beaver 84 and NSG.
MTD was acquired through NSG business to strengthen its offering to the social housing sector.
The Deeside firms recently spent £500,000 on the Altrad Plettac Contur System Scaffolding, considered to be one of the most advanced in the UK.
Ray Neilson, managing director of Altrad subsidiary Altrad Belle UK, said: “This generation Hire acquisition forms part of the bigger plan to provide the UK market with products and services from Altrad, which specialises in the manufacturing and sales of scaffolding, cement mixers and wheelbarrows, together with providing additional services in the access sector.”
Altrad now has over 60 companies with the majority being located in Europe and several outside of Europe across the world.
Neilson added that Altrad was keen to hear from product and service related companies that are interested in joining the group.
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The 50-metre long bridge spans a dramatic sea gorge 45-metres below, and connects the mainland of County Cork with Cloghan Island. The original reinforced concrete structure had been in place for 100 years, but its location and exposure to the elements had caused it to deteriorate, and it was in need of major refurbishment.
George Carr should have been wearing a harness while working on scaffolding which had no guard rail due to the method it was being dismantled, a Health and Safety Executive expert said.
But Isabelle Martin also stated that a criminal prosecution was not appropriate as neither Mr Carr nor his workmateDavid Duff was in charge of the work at a house inDundee’s Somerville Place when he fell four and a half metres on June 16.
Sheriff Tom Hughes heard that Mr Carr — who was 67 and lived in Fintry Drive — was declared dead in an ambulance despite the efforts of householder Stewart Clark and paramedics. The cause of Mr Carr’s death was later recorded as multiple injuries from the blunt force trauma of falling from height.
Ms Martin told the inquiry both men were equally experienced and there was ”no instruction from either of them to each other”.
She told the inquiry: ”Mr Carr should have known that a harness should be worn when erecting or dismantling scaffolding and he wasn’t wearing one.”
She said the scaffolding should have been taken down in a ”progressive” manner and a guard rail should have been in place.
The scaffolding had been dismantled from east to west instead of from top to bottom, she said, which resulted in there being no guard rail, while a harness could have prevented the fall.
She agreed with a suggestion from solicitor Gary McIlravey, for Mr Duff, that the scaffolding had been erected as a ”favour” and that in general terms with the people who did this type of work as homers ”safety guidelines are not always adhered to”.
She replied: ”They should be but there is evidence of that.”
Ms Martin also agreed that the two men had worked together for such a long time they ”just got on with it”.
Asked if she considered what happened as a ”tragic accident,” she replied: ”Yes.”
She also agreed that in her report she stated that Mr Duff was not solely responsible for the work and that both men knew equally well how to properly erect and dismantle the scaffolding.
Earlier the inquiry heard Mr Carr was ”fit and able” to complete the task.
Householder Mr Clark said friend and neighbour Michael Garty had suggested that he knew of someone who could help with scaffolding for roof repairs in May last year. That led to Mr Carr’s friend and workmate of 45 years Mr Duff erecting scaffolding at the front of Mr Clark’s home.
It was when Mr Clark asked Mr Duff to return to move the scaffolding to the rear of the property that Mr Carr’s fall took place.
Mr Garty said he had worked in the scaffolding industry for nearly 30 years and had some spare scaffolding which workers at his offshore engineering company used for training. He told the inquiry that it was this, modular scaffolding which had been lent to Mr Clark as a favour.
”Mr Duff and Mr Carr have been foremen on projects we have worked on,” Mr Garty said. ”George had continued working offshore when he was 66 and he could have continued on. He was an extremely fit and able man and he had no obvious health issues.”
The sheriff will issue his findings at a later date.
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