BAM Construction worker struck by scaffolding tubes

Open-access content Monday 5th February 2018

From the archive: Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Westminster Magistrates' Court was told that a crane operator was lifting a pack of scaffolding tubes on to a platform with the assistance of a slinger signaller.

The driver had a restricted view of the load and it struck the side of the platform. The poles spilled on to a gantry two storeys below, injuring a scaffolder who was working there.

BAM Construction pleaded guilty to breaching s 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations, which requires employers to properly plan and supervise a lifting task and ensure it is carried out safely.

It was fined and ordered to pay £8,700 costs.

After the accident on 9 December 2015, BAM Construction enhanced its existing measures to control access to nearby areas during the lifting of loads, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.

HSE inspector Stephron Baker Holmes said: "Construction companies should think carefully about how best to prevent loads being lifted over people who may be working in areas nearby. In some cases it may be possible to restrict access to a particular area while lifting operations are being carried out above."

UPDATE BAM Construction worker struck by scaffolding tubes

Tuesday 13th February 2018

The construction engineering firm was overseeing the construction of a multi-storey mixed-use building in London’s West End when the accident happened on 9 December 2015. A tower crane operator was lifting a load of about 50 1 m-long extendable transoms – horizontal poles that support scaffold boards – from a delivery lorry to a CantiDeck access platform on the third floor. A slinger signaller was guiding the load because the crane operator had a restricted view and could not see the lorry or the platform from his cab.

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The employee was installing roof sheets on a new agricultural building when they fell 6.3 m

Kit form farm builder lands £100,000 fine for fatal fall

Wednesday 24th January 2018

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the C & R Construction (SW) employee was installing roof sheets on a new agricultural building when the incident occurred on 11 May 2016.C & R Construction (SW) did not provide suitable edge protection. It also failed to ensure there was a sufficient risk assessment and did not ensure that those installing the edge protection and supervising the work had received adequate training.

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Scaffolding clip fell 20 m on to pedestrian’s head

Tuesday 20th February 2018

Alandale Plant and Scaffolding has been fined £160,000 over the incident, which happened on 20 March 2017. Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told that the injured person received cuts to his head and face, a broken nose and a severely bruised skull.Health and Safety Executive inspector Sarah Robinson said the company’s working practices were not safe. “On this occasion it did not follow their own risk assessments or method statements,” she said.

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Image credit: ©Tim Scrivener/REX/Shutterstock

Serial safety offender Tata Steel fined £1.4m

Monday 5th February 2018

Hull Crown Court was told that Tata Steel employee Thomas Standerline, 26, was standing inside a cage while inspecting a crane in April 2010. An overhead crane travelled over the edge of his cage and trapped him, leading to instant death. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that, even after the occurrence of two incidents prior to Standerline’s death, Tata Steel had failed to enforce its own safety procedures. It also found that the overhead crane in question should not have been in operation.

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Police considering corporate manslaughter charges over Didcot deaths

Thursday 1st February 2018

Part of the boiler house at the power station in Oxfordshire gave way during demolition work on 23 February 2016, killing Christopher Huxtable, Kenneth Cresswell, John Shaw and Michael Collings. A pre-inquest hearing at Oxford Coroner’s Court yesterday (31 January) was told that the HSE and TVP had launched a joint investigation to consider corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and health and safety offences.

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Construction stand-down targets mental health

Wednesday 31st January 2018

Last April more than 60,000 people working in the infrastructure industry downed tools in the first campaign, called Stop. Make a Change. More than 50 major clients, contractors and materials suppliers participated and many of them made commitments to help tackle mental health, respiratory health, plant safety and fatigue.This year the initiative has been extended the whole construction sector “to increase the impact and share the best practice that has been developed more widely”, said campaign organiser the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA).

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