A scaffolding company has been fined for safety failings after scaffolding collapsed on to a street in Maidenhead while it was being dismantled.
High Wycombe Magistrates Court heard how the collapse could have resulted in serious injury or loss of life.
An investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive following the incident that occurred on the 30 April 2018. It was found that the underlying cause of the scaffold collapse was a lack of training and adequate instruction.
The worker carrying out the dismantling of the scaffold and removal of the scaffold ties was not adequately trained. Subsequent high winds acting upon the monoflex sheeting on the day of the collapse caused then caused scaffold to act as a “giant sail” and subsequently toppled over into the street.
Formula Scaffolding (London) Limited of Church Lane, Chessington was found guilty in their absence to breaching section 3(1) of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and have been fined £160 000.00 and ordered to pay costs of £11 533.36
After the hearing, HSE Inspector John Caboche commented: “This was a very serious incident and it is fortunate nobody was injured as a result of it.
“Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working, ensure that their workforce is adequately trained and provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working.”
Notes to Editors:
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We seek to 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
- More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
- HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk
- For more information on scaffold safety go to: https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/scaffoldinginfo.htm
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