Eddie Fowler,28,was killed when a scaffold board blew off scaffolding in high winds causing massive head injures.Charlestown Centre where Eddie Fowler died on the site
G & T Crampton was fined €100,000 for the man’s death
Dublin Criminal Court heard that the accident happened during the construction of Charlestown Center in Finglas in January 2007. Mr Fowler was on his way to his tea break when he was struck on the head by the flying scaffold board.
On the day of the incident record high winds were recorded and severe weather warning were issued.
A Health and Safety inspector said workers should not of been allowed into that section of the site.
It was only after Mr Fowler was struck by the scaffold board that the decision to evacuate the site was taken.
The court heard that T & G Crampton was aware of problems with scaffold boards blowing off in lesser winds and would of been aware of the severe weather warnings issued.
T & G Crampton apologised and expressed its ‘profound regret’ for the death of Mr Fowler.
Judge Martin Nolan said “This was a very sad case and added that the company had made the wrong judgement on the day to allow workers on the site while knowing the risks of scaffold boards being lifted by the extreme weather on the day.”
Mr Fowler’s mother and his widow said the company had ‘walked away’. The fine amounted to two years’ salary for a worker, they said, asking if that was the price put on a life.
Scaffolding manufacturer Layher reported a turnover last year that almost matched the company’s peak year.Managing director Dr Helmut Kreller toldAccess International that Layher’s family ownership allowed it to maintain investment through the crisis and make a quick recovery.
At the start of the crisis Layher was deciding to build a new factory. “It is because all our shareholders are close to the business that we can make long term decisions,” said Dr Kreller.
The new factory now houses the wood and aluminium part of Layher’s production while the steel scaffolding continues at the original plant, very close by, with its modern, environmentally sensitive, dip galvanising facility.
Although unwilling to divulge exact figures Layher’s turnover for the year ending 31 March 2011 is somewhere between €400 and €500 million. During the crisis its domestic German market grew, but now Dr Kreller says that exports are again starting to rise, accounting for 60% of the company’s turnover.
Committed to continuing to manufacturing in Germany, Dr Kreller was prepared to acknowledge that Layher had considered manufacturing elsewhere, but should that decision be made sometime in the future it would only be to serve those external markets.
A construction worker died instantly after falling from a scaffolding in the city centre of Vienna at the weekend.
The 39-year-old was already dead when paramedics arrived at the scene on Saturday afternoon, police in the capital explained today (Mon).
The worker sustained injuries to his head as well as internal injuries in the incident.
A Poole construction company has been sentenced after a carpenter was seriously injured when he fell three metres off scaffolding while working on a house extension.Michael McCarthy, 60, from Verwood, was contracted by P O Sharps Landscapes Ltd to construct the roof of the extension at a property in Radipole Road in the town.
The extension was being built above an existing garage which protruded out beyond the face of the main building causing a step in the scaffold at roof level of the garage.
On 20 September 2008, Mr McCarthy descended the ladder and stepped backwards over the open edge, falling three metres and fracturing his spine and ankles.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuting at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court, found the platform had no guardrails, and a ladder used to access the working platform above was positioned outward, forcing anybody using the ladder to stand backward at the unguarded edge.
P O Sharps Landscapes pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000.
After the hearing HSE inspector Frank Flannery commented:
“Falls from height can cause significant and life-changing injuries and duty holders must take steps to prevent falls wherever possible.
“Mr McCarthy’s injuries are serious and permanent: he has a steel rod in his back, steel pins in his right ankle, and left foot/heel. He suffers with chronic pain and has no prospect of working again. This incident could easily have been prevented by erecting guardrails along the platform.”
In 2008/2009 more than 4,000 major injuries were caused by falls from height at work. More information about working at height can be found on the HSE website at:http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/index.htm
A SCAFFOLDER was taken to hospital with a head injury after he was in collision with a bus in Sheffield.The man was walking along a street in Walkley carrying scaffolding tubes on his shoulder when he turned and one of the tubes clipped a number 52 bus, causing him to fall and hit his head.
The incident happened at 9.22am yesterday on South Road, near the junction with Walkley Bank Road.
A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said the man, in his 20s, was taken to hospital.
She said: “The collision occurred on Walkley Road near the junction of South Road. The injured man was working at the location and was carrying some scaffolding. As he turned around the scaffolding clipped the top corner of the bus, causing him to fall to the ground and bang his head on the pavement.”
A spokesman for First said: “A workman was carrying some scaffolding poles on his shoulder when he turned and they stuck out into the road striking a bus.”
A BANKRUPT former scaffolding company boss who caused almost £160,000 damage after smashing his lorry into the headquarters of South Tyneside Homes, today vowed to rebuild his life after receiving a suspended prison sentence.John Robertson, 44, drove his 22ft lorry into Strathmore House, at Jarrow’s Viking Industrial Park, on March 20, demolishing much of the entrance to the building.
The offence followed a contract row between housing bosses and Robertson, who later filed for bankruptcy, with debts of about £1.3m.
But despite receiving a 40-week prison term, suspended for two years, at Newcastle Crown Court this week, Robertson today told the Gazette he was planning to relaunch his business career as a sole trader.
Robertson, of York Avenue, Jarrow, who admitted criminal damage, said: “I’m just so relieved, for myself and my family, that I didn’t go to jail – which was what I was expecting, if I’m honest.
“I cannot be in charge of a limited company again, because I’m bankrupt, but I can be a sole trader.
“I’m going to start right from the bottom and carry out work such as scaffolding inspection, roofing or whatever work I can find.
“I will never get back to where I was with my business, but at least I can work again, with the support of some good friends.”
Robertson, who was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community service and made the subject of a one-year supervision order, recently saw his life and business crash around him, including bankruptcy and an impending divorce.
Until a few months ago, he employed 20 staff at Robertson Scaffolding at Wagonway Industrial Estate, Hebburn.
But his business has been dissolved and he admits his marriage is over.
Robertson said he “regrets” his actions against South Tyneside Homes, adding: “I have no bad feelings against the housing people and would even be willing to do business with them again.
“I think the judge must have taken all my problems into account when he sentenced me. Plus, there was no request for compensation, presumably because I’m bankrupt.”
While awaiting sentence, Robertson received 767 votes after standing as an Independent candidate for the Primrose ward in Jarrow at the May local elections, and plans to continue campaigning to become a South Tyneside councillor.
South Tyneside Homes today declined to comment.
Access Industry Forum has been supplying online video for free for over a year and now has almost 50 best practice video available to view, free. Almost 8000 people have now viewed the videos and recognise them as a successful method of remaining up to date on issues and topics surrounding the area of working at height.
The Knowledge Base is where best practice and latest developments are presented and discussed on all matters relating to working at height. Furthermore the Knowledge Base also introduces a new concept, that of stakeholder engagement via top table discussion forums to discuss broader (non-product specific) working at height issues. Participating organisations in the Knowledge Base include CIOB, RoSPA, UKCG, Association for Project Safety and IOSH.
All the Knowledge Base sessions are filmed and supplied by AIF online for free to enable practitioners and other industry stakeholders to review the content to ensure they remain up to date with objective and factual information on working at height issues.
The Knowledge Base is updated regularly. If you have a suggestion for a topic for the Knowledge Base please contact the AIF.
SCAFFOLDING firm NSG UK Ltd has announced the acquisition of Wrexham-based Empire Scaffolding.NSG is one of the country’s top suppliers of scaffolding and industrial services, with a turnover of £18million and more than 320 employees.
Managing director Mike Carr said: “Empire is a well respected business and we are delighted to have incorporated it into NSG.
“Empire has a strong client base including Kraft (formerly Cadbury’s) at Chirk and British Waterways, and this will help NSG to expand further into a variety of sectors and regions across the UK.
“Empire director Barry Hart has a wealth of experience within the scaffolding industry and we are pleased that he will be working closely with NSG to continue to develop the existing contracts and oversee new business opportunities.”
NSG increased turnover by 10% over the past year to £18million.
A construction worker broke both his legs after falling 20ft from scaffolding in the Black Country yesterday.
West Midlands Ambulance Service was called to the site in Blackacre Road, Dudley yesterday afternoon.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “The man in his twenties had fallen approximately twenty feet from a scaffolding tower. He had fractured both legs, an ankle and a wrist.
“He was given pain relief at the scene and was immobilised with the use of a spinal board and neck collar and was taken to Russells Hall Hospital for further assessment and treatment.”
To provide television viewing, studio and support facilities for the world’s media at key locations along the route of the British Royal Wedding, Media Structures chose modular scaffolding from Layher Ltd.The centrepiece of the project was a dedicated media village in Green Park, which is located opposite Buckingham Palace. Here, a three-storey structure was built using 158t of Layher Allround scaffolding to provide up to 200 broadcast camera viewing points within 22 individual studios. The rosette coupler, which is at the heart of the Layher design, enabled a 70m long structure to follow a radius footprint with Layher stairtowers also used to provide multi-level access at key points. Alongside, Media Structures Limited also used the Layher system to create a number of additional studio facilities designed to provide viewing points at ground level.
The scaffolding system was also used in up to 30 camera and commentary positions along the route while at Westminster Abbey, the venue for the marriage ceremony, Media Structures used approximately 100t of Layher equipment to provide the multi-tiered media stand opposite the main entrance. This design also benefited from the use of transparent Keder sheeting to provide protection in the case of inclement weather. Additional camera positions were constructed on adjacent rooftops as well as within the Abbey itself – from cleverly disguised locations either side of the entrance door to the triforium viewing position high in the roof area.
Andy Needham, managing director at Media Structures Limited said, “The Royal Wedding project was an overall team effort including, not least, the back-up and support from Layher’s UK office which helped to deliver a successful conclusion. Less than a month was available from start of build to hand over so it was vital that we selected a scaffold system which was versatile, robust, enabled the optimum use of manpower and allowed the wide range of installations to be completed quickly.”
Sean Pike managing director of Layher UK said, “We believe this is an excellent example of the benefits associated with our scaffolding system designs, particularly when compared with conventional tube and fitting alternatives. The latter, we believe, would have needed vastly more equipment, greater manpower and would have put extreme pressure on the time scale involved. Moreover, factors such as the neat appearance of Layher scaffolding also clearly made a major contribution, given the prestige of the event.”
Managing director Dr Helmut Kreller toldAccess International that Layher’s family ownership allowed it to maintain investment through the crisis and make a quick recovery.
At the start of the crisis Layher was deciding to build a new factory. “It is because all our shareholders are close to the business that we can make long term decisions,” said Dr Kreller.
The new factory now houses the wood and aluminium part of Layher’s production while the steel scaffolding continues at the original plant, very close by, with its modern, environmentally sensitive, dip galvanising facility.
Although unwilling to divulge exact figures Layher’s turnover for the year ending 31 March 2011 is somewhere between €400 and €500 million. During the crisis its domestic German market grew, but now Dr Kreller says that exports are again starting to rise, accounting for 60% of the company’s turnover.
Committed to continuing to manufacturing in Germany, Dr Kreller was prepared to acknowledge that Layher had considered manufacturing elsewhere, but should that decision be made sometime in the future it would only be to serve those external markets.
A construction worker died instantly after falling from a scaffolding in the city centre of Vienna at the weekend.
The 39-year-old was already dead when paramedics arrived at the scene on Saturday afternoon, police in the capital explained today (Mon).
The worker sustained injuries to his head as well as internal injuries in the incident.
John Robertson, 44, drove his 22ft lorry into Strathmore House, at Jarrow’s Viking Industrial Park, on March 20, demolishing much of the entrance to the building.
The offence followed a contract row between housing bosses and Robertson, who later filed for bankruptcy, with debts of about £1.3m.
But despite receiving a 40-week prison term, suspended for two years, at Newcastle Crown Court this week, Robertson today told the Gazette he was planning to relaunch his business career as a sole trader.
Robertson, of York Avenue, Jarrow, who admitted criminal damage, said: “I’m just so relieved, for myself and my family, that I didn’t go to jail – which was what I was expecting, if I’m honest.
“I cannot be in charge of a limited company again, because I’m bankrupt, but I can be a sole trader.
“I’m going to start right from the bottom and carry out work such as scaffolding inspection, roofing or whatever work I can find.
“I will never get back to where I was with my business, but at least I can work again, with the support of some good friends.”
Robertson, who was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community service and made the subject of a one-year supervision order, recently saw his life and business crash around him, including bankruptcy and an impending divorce.
Until a few months ago, he employed 20 staff at Robertson Scaffolding at Wagonway Industrial Estate, Hebburn.
But his business has been dissolved and he admits his marriage is over.
Robertson said he “regrets” his actions against South Tyneside Homes, adding: “I have no bad feelings against the housing people and would even be willing to do business with them again.
“I think the judge must have taken all my problems into account when he sentenced me. Plus, there was no request for compensation, presumably because I’m bankrupt.”
While awaiting sentence, Robertson received 767 votes after standing as an Independent candidate for the Primrose ward in Jarrow at the May local elections, and plans to continue campaigning to become a South Tyneside councillor.
South Tyneside Homes today declined to comment.
Access Industry Forum has been supplying online video for free for over a year and now has almost 50 best practice video available to view, free. Almost 8000 people have now viewed the videos and recognise them as a successful method of remaining up to date on issues and topics surrounding the area of working at height.
The Knowledge Base is where best practice and latest developments are presented and discussed on all matters relating to working at height. Furthermore the Knowledge Base also introduces a new concept, that of stakeholder engagement via top table discussion forums to discuss broader (non-product specific) working at height issues. Participating organisations in the Knowledge Base include CIOB, RoSPA, UKCG, Association for Project Safety and IOSH.
All the Knowledge Base sessions are filmed and supplied by AIF online for free to enable practitioners and other industry stakeholders to review the content to ensure they remain up to date with objective and factual information on working at height issues.
The Knowledge Base is updated regularly. If you have a suggestion for a topic for the Knowledge Base please contact the AIF.
NSG is one of the country’s top suppliers of scaffolding and industrial services, with a turnover of £18million and more than 320 employees.
Managing director Mike Carr said: “Empire is a well respected business and we are delighted to have incorporated it into NSG.
“Empire has a strong client base including Kraft (formerly Cadbury’s) at Chirk and British Waterways, and this will help NSG to expand further into a variety of sectors and regions across the UK.
“Empire director Barry Hart has a wealth of experience within the scaffolding industry and we are pleased that he will be working closely with NSG to continue to develop the existing contracts and oversee new business opportunities.”
NSG increased turnover by 10% over the past year to £18million.
The centrepiece of the project was a dedicated media village in Green Park, which is located opposite Buckingham Palace. Here, a three-storey structure was built using 158t of Layher Allround scaffolding to provide up to 200 broadcast camera viewing points within 22 individual studios. The rosette coupler, which is at the heart of the Layher design, enabled a 70m long structure to follow a radius footprint with Layher stairtowers also used to provide multi-level access at key points. Alongside, Media Structures Limited also used the Layher system to create a number of additional studio facilities designed to provide viewing points at ground level.
The scaffolding system was also used in up to 30 camera and commentary positions along the route while at Westminster Abbey, the venue for the marriage ceremony, Media Structures used approximately 100t of Layher equipment to provide the multi-tiered media stand opposite the main entrance. This design also benefited from the use of transparent Keder sheeting to provide protection in the case of inclement weather. Additional camera positions were constructed on adjacent rooftops as well as within the Abbey itself – from cleverly disguised locations either side of the entrance door to the triforium viewing position high in the roof area.
Andy Needham, managing director at Media Structures Limited said, “The Royal Wedding project was an overall team effort including, not least, the back-up and support from Layher’s UK office which helped to deliver a successful conclusion. Less than a month was available from start of build to hand over so it was vital that we selected a scaffold system which was versatile, robust, enabled the optimum use of manpower and allowed the wide range of installations to be completed quickly.”
Sean Pike managing director of Layher UK said, “We believe this is an excellent example of the benefits associated with our scaffolding system designs, particularly when compared with conventional tube and fitting alternatives. The latter, we believe, would have needed vastly more equipment, greater manpower and would have put extreme pressure on the time scale involved. Moreover, factors such as the neat appearance of Layher scaffolding also clearly made a major contribution, given the prestige of the event.”