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March/April 2023 issue

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Construction
News

Construction co director jailed for six years

Open-access content Monday 11th April 2016
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

©iStock/AlexLMX

Builder C Smith and Sons had been contracted to demolish the structure, which had housed Harvey's and Carpetright retail stores. The building was due to be demolished remotely with construction plant as this posed the least risk to workers. However, between winning the contract and work starting onsite, the company's owner Michael Smith decided the structure should be dismantled piece by piece instead.

C Smith subcontracted Building and Dismantling Contractors (BDC) to disassemble the roof and its workers had to remove the roof sheets to at height before unbolting the supporting structure. The roof was made up of steel corrugated sheets with plastic skylights. The skylights had deteriorated and were covered with corrugated steel.

On the morning of 21 January 2014, a 47-year-old BDC employee fell through one of the skylights onto the concrete floor 9 m. He sustained fractures to his spine, pelvis, right leg, heel and wrist. At about 4pm the same day, 42-year-old Scott Harrower, another BDC worker, fell through a skylight and sustained fatal head injuries.

The day before the accident Harrower had a near-miss when he stepped through one of the skylights but managed to stop himself from falling.

The companies appeared at Manchester Crown Court, where BDC was found guilty of offences under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and of breaching regulations 4 and 7 of the Work at Height Regulations, which require employers to properly plan and supervise work at height and ensure it is carried out in a safe manner. The company's owner, Allan Thomson, has been jailed for six years, fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £55,000 court costs.

C Smith and Sons was found guilty of offences under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and for breaching both the CDM (Construction Design and Management) and Work at Height regulations. Michael Smith has been jailed for eight months, fined £90,000 and ordered to pay £45,000 court costs.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Eales said: "Smith and Thomson's remorse did not then stretch to admitting their guilt, as both tried to hide behind their companies and refused to plead guilty to the charges levelled against them personally."

After the case, which was brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, Health and Safety Executive inspector Sandra Tomlinson said: "The roof dismantling works were not properly planned or supervised and adequate precautions, such as netting, were not put in place."

You may also be interested in...

High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, Scotland | Image credit: ©iStock/George Clerk

 Worker left with reduced mobility after 5.4 m floor void fall

Monday 25th April 2016
On 16 May 2014, the man was working for a subcontractor of Bowmer and Kirkland, pouring concrete on the first floor of a building under construction at Fort Kinnaird Retail Park.As he walked across the floor he tripped, dislodging an unsecured wooden board that had been used to cover the 2 m by 1 m void. He fell approximately 4.5 m.
Open-access content

 Employee who fell through skylight was out of work for six months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard how, after completing the repair on the roof ridge, Ian Kirby stepped onto another roof to remove some debris. He fell through a fragile skylight and landed on a tractor scraper several feet below. Kirby sustained head injuries, a spinal fracture and a broken collar bone and ribs and could not work for six months.
Open-access content
©Bruce Adams / Associated Newspapers/REX/Shutterstock

 Missing risk assessment contributed to worker’s skull fracture

Thursday 28th April 2016
The man, an employee of Mitchell Roofing, was replacing panels when he slipped and fell 7 m through the inner roof sheet fracturing his skull, York Magistrates’ court heard. The company had been contracted to replace rooflights at Monk Bridge Construction’s premises in Elvington, York. Before the incident, the firm had clad a new building and had taken the appropriate safety precautions, but the minor work of replacing the roof panels had not been properly planned.
Open-access content
HSE

 Solar panel installer fined for work at height violations

Thursday 24th March 2016
The roof light was on a swimming pool outbuilding at a private home in Kent. The injured worker was part of a three man team replacing faulty solar panels that were installed by PV Solar in April 2011. He was carrying a panel along the roof and fell through one of the eight roof lights. The water in the swimming pool partly broke his fall but he hit the side and fractured his shin and spine.  The accident happened on 30 April 2013 but the 32-year-old was unable to return to work until January this year, and then on a part-time basis only.
Open-access content

 Manslaughter term for landlord who covered up employee’s scaffold fall

Tuesday 10th May 2016
Weedon was carrying out general repair work at the home of Antony Minehan in Southport, Merseyside, on 26 March 2014. Abacus Scaffolding North West had erected the scaffolding for some cavity wall insulation work. There were no guardrails, ladders, trap ends or ties on the scaffold and it had insufficient raker outriggers to ensure its stability.
Open-access content
FLPA / John Eveson/REX/Shutterstock

 *UPDATE* Potential roof fall drops £160k from metal caster’s bottom line

Monday 11th April 2016
M J Allen Holdings, a metalwork casting and machinery company, failed to provide suitable work at height equipment and did not offer to train its employees, an HSE investigation found. Canterbury Crown Court heard that on 19 September 2014, three employees of the company’s maintenance team accessed the foundry roof using a mobile elevating working platform, to remove a broken ceiling fan.
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