Company and director sentenced after scaffolder seriously injured

A scaffolding company and its managing director have today been sentenced after one of its scaffolders suffered a serious injury whilst taking down a scaffold.

Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard how LS Scaffolding was contracted to erect a scaffold and temporary roof over a pair of houses to enable the conversion of the lofts. While dismantling the roof of the structure at the site on Upton Court Road, Slough, a worker fell and broke his femur.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, that occurred on 28 July 2016, found that LS Scaffolding Ltd regularly used untrained workers and failed to ensure scaffold structures were designed by competent persons. The investigation also found that the company and its director failed to ensure the work on a complex scaffold was properly planned, supervised or carried out.

LS Scaffolding Ltd of Vicarage Farm Road, Hounslow pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 4 (1) and 8(b) (ii) of The Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £47,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,371 with a £170 surcharge.

Lakhbir Khakh, director of LS Scaffolding Ltd of Stanwell Gardens, Staines pleaded guilty to breaching two counts of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was sentenced to 18 weeks custodial sentence suspended for 12 months and was fined £1,700 with a £115 surcharge.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Dominic Goacher commented: “It is essential that scaffolding companies ensure that non-standard scaffolds are safely erected to a design produced by a competent scaffold engineer and that safe systems of work are planned and used by competent workers.”

 Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk