Builder and fitter John Ingram was refurbishing an agricultural building in Hertfordshire last March when he fell from a tower scaffold erected on top of a freight container.
Mr Ingram, 55, of Lode, suffered facial fractures and was in a coma for several days.
He was unable to work for eight months following the incident.
His employer Balsham (Buildings) Ltd of High Street, Balsham, appeared at Watford Magistrates’ Court today and admitted four breaches of health and safety legislation.
The company was fined £14,000 and told to pay £8832.30 costs.
Via: www.cambridgefirst.co.uk U.K. Edition
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector visited a residential property in Alma Road, Plymouth on 16 March 2009 and found several basic safety failings in scaffolding erected by Arthur John Tucker for roofing work.
Plymouth Magistrates Court heard only one guard rail was found on the working platform that required two, no safety harnesses were used to erect the scaffold and an unsecured scaffold pole was resting on a broken concrete block wall.
HSE served a prohibition notice ordering work to stop and Mr Tucker was also served with an improvement notice to undertake training in scaffolding safety, which he had not previously done.
Despite these orders inspectors returning to the site found Mr Tucker had failed to carry out the training under and were forced to prosecute.
Mr Tucker, of Skylark Rise, Woolwell, Plymouth pleaded guilty to contravening the requirements of an Improvement Notice to provide sufficient training for himself and his employee under Section 33 (1) (g) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. He was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £2,108 in costs. The magistrates also ordered Mr Tucker to complete the additional training for himself and his employees within 18 months of the hearing.
After sentencing, HSE Inspector, Barry Trudgian, said:
“It is absolutely imperative that scaffolding is erected safely by well trained workers to avoid often catastrophic incidents.
“Mr Tucker not only illustrated his lack of professionalism when the scaffolding was erected but he then ignored a legal order intended to increase his competence. He has found today that compliance with these notices is compulsory, not optional.
“Proper training in scaffolding techniques would have easily avoided the basic mistakes made and created a much safer environment for his own workers and the roofers relying on his workmanship.”
Via: HSE (Press Release) 
The judges said they based their decision on the finalists’ rate of growth, business successes, commitment to health and safety, client satisfaction and future ambitions.
Members of the judging panel included Ray Horwood, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors, and Sean Bowles, Operations Director of housing developers Galliford Try.
The panel concluded: “Lavendon Access Services is a company that stands out from the pack in terms of commitment to a strong and uniformed workforce while achieving excellence to customers.”
Accepting the award, Mike Potts, Lavendon Access Services’ UK Chief Executive, said: “One of the most pleasing aspects of this award is that five of the six other finalists were scaffolding companies.
“I believe this is a clear message that the benefits of powered access, in terms of efficiency, cost-effectiveness and safety, are increasingly accepted by decision-makers in the construction industry.
“Our employees’ commitment to service innovation, safety and customer satisfaction has played a major part in Lavendon Access Services being named as winners of the Specialist Award within the Access and Scaffolding category.
“2010 was definitely a challenging year for the powered access industry, but the quality of people we employ and services we provide has ensured that we have continued to retain and secure new business.”
The awards ceremony took place at the London Hilton, Park Lane, and was attended by 600 leaders in specialist contracting across the UK.
The award was presented by Construction News, the UK’s leading construction magazine, and supported by the National Specialists Contractors Council.
Nick Edwards, editor of Construction News magazine commented: “Eighty companies made it onto the shortlist of this year’s awards across 18 categories. Eighty reasons why whatever the state of the economy, while the planners delay, the politicians talk and the bankers get paid, the country’s specialist subcontractors will keep on delivering the goods. Well done to all of you.”
Via: 
The contract, valued at close to $10 million over its 3-year term, provides for 24/7 scaffolding support of the 2,000 acre Tata Steel plant in Scunthorpe, UK, a major location where Harsco Metals also provides onsite metal recovery and material handling services to Tata Steel’s steelmaking operations.
The award reinforces Harsco Infrastructure’s increasing global focus on the industrial maintenance and infrastructure sectors and also demonstrates the Company’s growing multi-discipline relationship with the Tata Group. Last week, Harsco announced similar industrial scaffolding orders in India totaling more than $8 million with Tata Steel, Tata Power and Tata Mines.
Harsco’s industrial maintenance expertise was seen as a principal factor in winning the award, as the Company identified key areas in which savings could be made through increased efficiencies and reduced waste. “Our decision to move to a new work-at-height contract provider was not one that was taken lightly,” said Dave Jones, Contracts Manager at Tata Steel in Scunthorpe.
Unlike traditional scaffolding arrangements in which scaffolding providers normally charge by the hour based on how many and how long their scaffolders were provided, Harsco Infrastructure proposed a solutions-focused approach built around each project requirement.
“The development of this solutions-focused approach will be a radical change but one that will save us a lot of money,” said Jones. “These savings along with Harsco’s best-in-industry operations standards give me confidence that benefits across the whole site will be felt quickly.” Harsco Infrastructure is one of the world’s largest and most complete providers of engineered scaffolding, shoring and forming systems for major construction and industrial maintenance projects.
Commenting on the award, Executive Vice President and Harsco Infrastructure Group CEO Ivor Harrington, said, “This order from one of the world’s largest blue chip organizations highlights the progress that we are making in increasing our presence in the key industrial and infrastructure sectors. Our combination of experience and expertise puts us in position to serve some of the biggest players in these important markets, and deliver the improved performance that our customers and shareholders expect.”
Harsco Corporation is one of the world’s leading diversified industrial services and engineered products companies. The Company serves industries that are fundamental to global infrastructure development and economic growth including metals, construction, railways and energy. Harsco’s common stock is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 1000 Index. Additional information can be found at 
