A Worthing scaffolding company has been fined after a grandmother suffered serious head injuries, after being struck by a falling scaffolding tube.
The Worthing Herald is reporting that Carroll Taylor, suffered head and facial injuries after the five foot long tube hit her as she waited for her husband to park the car, in the nearby Union Place car park.
She told the newspaper that she felt ‘lucky to be alive’, after the pole “gouged flesh” from her head and left her needing hospital treatment.
Sussex based Ashacre Scaffolding Limited, the company responsible for the structure, was fined £15,000 at Worthing Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay costs totalling £5,936.83.
The court was told that Ashacre Scaffolding had erected the scaffolding to allow the Connaught Theatre’s guttering to be cleaned.
But an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) informed the court that when it was time for the scaffolding to be dismantled the correct safety procedures, such as restricting public access to the work area had not been adhered to.
A spokesperson from the legal team defending Ashacre Scaffolding stated that the company would have to close if they had to pay the fine and costs involved.
