A boarding school has been fined £25,000 following the death of a worker while demolishing a building at the school site.
Moor Park Charitable Trust which runs Moor Park School has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive following the incident on 14 August 2007, when it arranged for a team of inexperienced building workers to demolish a large wooden classroom.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard how the School had arranged for self-employed general buidling worker, Christopher Morris to carry out the work. Mr Morris asked four other self-employed building workers to assist in the demolition of the building, even though none of them hand any training or relevant experience.
The men removed integral supports within the classroom’s structure which caused the 2.4 tonne roof to collapse while five men were inside. 40-year-old Mark Evans suffocated when the roof fell on top of him. The other four men survived without serious injury thanks to the chance positioning of a dumper which had been parked inside part of the buidling, forming an escape route.
The Health and Safety Executive investigation following the incident found that the school had not made any reasonable enquiries into the competence of the men to undertake the work before demolition began. The HSE also found that the men had not effective plan in place before removing the integral supports.
Moor Park School was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
HSE inspector Nic Rigby said: “There were five men inside this building when it collapsed. Mr Evans paid the ultimate price for the school’s failings. But for sheer good fortune, all five of them could have been killed. But Mr Evans and the other workers should not have been put at such increased risk. Had Moor Park School taken reasonable steps to properly consider the demolition work, they would have appointed a competent and experienced contractor, and avoided the roof collapse.”
Inspector Rigby concluded: “This awful event and the prosecution of the school must send a very clear message to all those who commission construction or demolition work. It must be properly planned and carried out by those with the experience and competence to do so.”
