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A Christmas tragedy narrowly avoided after scaffolding collapses on busy high street

31st January 2020

Christmas shoppers in Cinderford were shocked to witness a toppling scaffold in December, as windy conditions exposed an apparent lack of stability measures in the scaffold and caused it to crash into a busy high street.

The incident occurred on Saturday 15th December, during the height of the Christmas shopping rush, in the Gloucestershire town.

The scaffolding partially fell onto a car parked on the opposite side of the road, setting off its alarm and alerting nearby shoppers to the incident. The incident was caught on CCTV, with footage highlighting how close the scaffolding came to hitting a moving car, which arrived just moments after the scaffolding fell into the street.

Emergency services were called to the scene to safely direct traffic away whilst scaffolding was removed from the site.

Whilst further details are yet to be revealed as to the cause of the scaffolding collapse, this incident serves to remind the scaffolding industry of the importance of ensuring scaffolds are adequately anchored. Several publications produced by NASC provide guidance on ensuring scaffolding stability and key amongst these are Chapter 7 of TG20:13 ‘A Guide to Good Practice for Tube and Fitting Scaffolding’ and TG4:19 ‘Anchorage Systems for Scaffolding’ which can be downloaded for free, here.

Are you looking for further training in scaffolding inspection or the installation of scaffolding anchors? Or would like a qualified expert to carry out regular inspections on site? Get in touch with the SIMIAN team today to find out how we can support you in working safely at height. Call 0345 6022 418 or email hello@simian-risk.com.