Cambridgeshire company and director fined after scaffold falls into street

A Cambridgeshire company and its director have been prosecuted by the HSE after an unsecured scaffold collapsed onto the pavement and road in High Street, Stretham, on 18 April 2013 three days after it was erected.

A prosecution was brought  after an investigation found the two-storey structure, which was around 11 metres long and 4.5 metres high, had not been secured to the property in any way.

Cambridge Magistrates’ Court were told that large plastic sheeting had been attached to the outside of the scaffold to protect passers-by as workers carried out on shot blasting and steam jetting on the house. However, this ultimately acted as a sail that caused it to blow over in the wind.

Crusaders Scaffolding Ltd, registered to High Street, Saffron Walden, Essex, were fined a total of £15,000 and ordered to pay £526 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and one of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Gary John Driver, 51, of Buckden, St Neots, was fined £5,000 with £500 costs after also pleading guilty to the same Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 offence.

A full report can be found on the HSE website at http://press.hse.gov.uk/2014/cambridgeshire-company-and-director-in-court-after-scaffold-falls-into-street/

Our Personal Injury department comments that “This accident once again shows that some often pay mere lip service to Health & Safety. It was very fortunate that this accident did not cause anyone to suffer serious injury”.