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May/June 2023 issue

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*UPDATE* BAM Construction worker struck by scaffolding tubes

Open-access content Tuesday 13th February 2018
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

13.02.18_update_bam_construction_worker_laatest_news

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.

However during this stage of the lifting operation "something went wrong", Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Stephron Baker Holmes told IOSH Magazine. The load, which had been bound together in a stillage and then wrapped in lifting slings, hit the side of the CantiDeck and tipped. Most of the transoms fell on to a gantry two storeys down and several struck a scaffolder who was working there, severely injuring him.

He said before the accident happened there were no signs or barriers to prevent access to the area.

Immediately afterwards the company took action to prevent a reoccurrence, Baker Holmes said. It installed a warning system comprising a flashing light to alert workers on the first floor gantry if a slinger signaller had entered one of the platforms above.

BAM 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 sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court in January.

In applying the sentencing guidelines, District Judge Zani decided its culpability was low and, based on the risk of harm created by the offence, identified the harm category as 3. He classed BAM, which in 2015 had a turnover of £897.5m, as a "very large" organisation and increased the starting point for the fine from £35,000 to £60,000 to reflect this. He then awarded full credit for the early guilty plea.

BAM was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,700.

After the hearing 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."

You may also be interested in...

©2014 Elliott Brown, made available under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license

 BAM Construction worker struck by scaffolding tubes

Monday 5th February 2018
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.
Open-access content

 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.
Open-access content
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.
Open-access content
HSE

 Refurb firm’s unsafe excavation and lifting operation

Wednesday 14th March 2018
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued Toft Construction with two prohibition notices when inspectors found an unsupported, deep excavation in the front garden of a domestic property in Salford, Greater Manchester on 23 June 2016. The company, which was refurbishing the property, had failed to put in sufficient controls to prevent the public from accessing the excavation area. The inspector also found that a steel beam was being lifted unsafely.
Open-access content
The truck that ran over Henry Jones

 Scaffolder crushed to death by dump truck

Monday 12th February 2018
Henry Jones, 67, was walking across housebuilder Redrow’s construction site in Knotty Ash, Merseyside, on 8 August 2013 when he was struck by a 43-tonne reversing dump truck. He was crushed under the rear wheels of the vehicle and died almost instantly. The accident happened in front of Jones’s son who was also working on the project, Liverpool Crown Court was told.
Open-access content

 *UPDATE* Tata Steel fined £1.4m after cranes crush worker

Thursday 15th February 2018
Tata Steel employee Thomas Standerline, 26, was carrying out maintenance work on a semi-goliath gantry crane in the slab yard at the company’s large steel plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, when the accident happened in April 2010. He was standing in the semi-goliath’s inspection cage when another overhead crane passed directly above him. He was caught between the two and died instantly.Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Kirsty Storer said that at the time contractor Harsco Metals was responsible for running the slab yard and operating the cranes.
Open-access content
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