Health and safety at work required after worker fall
Two construction businesses were fined after a recent court case was completed. The case revealed issues with the health and safety at work that these two companies offered their employees. A worker fell 22 metres. He died on the Manchester worksite. This worker was helping on the Spinningfields development. This is an apartment complex. The HSE was brought in for health and safety audits to determine the cause of the fall. It was determined that the lead contractor Amec Group and Shawton Engineering, a steel company, did not provide adequate safety and health on the site. The 25 year old suffered from fatal injuries when he fell in 2004. Another worker was injured at the same time and the death of his co-worker has left him with long-term psychological issues.
The court learned that the worker was using a chain that was on the scaffolding platform in order to adjust a beam. The steel beam was three stories above him. One of the brackets was unable to support the beam and fell, striking him. He then was entangled in the chain and dragged down from the scaffolding. The wrong studs were used to secure the chain. The work was certainly not planned or monitored correctly. The companies have to pay £300,000 in fines and over £333,000 in court costs. A fee of £1000 was paid to each victim and witness who had to testify for the case. An incident such as this is sad and could have been prevented.
