40k fine for construction company following scaffolder injury
23rd February 2018
A well-known construction company has been fined after a worker was injured by falling scaffolding tubes, as a lifting operation was underway.
The accident occurred in December 2015, it happened due to the crane driver on site having a restricted view of the load itself. As a result of the driver’s limited view, the load hit the side of a platform and fell onto gantry two storeys below and subsequently hit a worker in the area.
The case was heard in Westminster Magistrates’ Court; and saw the firm plead guilty to breaching Section 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). These regulations require an employer to adequately plan and supervise a lifting task, thus ensuring it is carried out safely. The firm was subsequently fined £40,000 as well as £8,700 in costs.
Since the incident in 2015, the firm has vastly improved their existing measures on site to ensure an accident such as this is avoided in the future.
If your construction business is concerned about of the levels of compliance, Simian can provide an effective and comprehensive monitoring and audit service that can review processes through the whole scaffolding lifecycle, from request through to scaffold erection, scaffold inspection scaffold dismantling and ultimately removal from site.
Get in touch with our team today to review your scaffolding health and safety requirements.