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Scaffold collapse caused by incompetent staff, inadequate design and tieing
The director of a scaffolding contractor has been has been fined after a workman was injured when a scaffold collapsed and he fell 6m. He fractured his pelvis in four places when the scaffolding collapsed at a house in Nottingham, on 20 October 2009.
HSE investigators revealed that the scaffold was not been built by a competent scaffolder. It was not erected to a standard configuration and had was tied incorrectly.
Scaffolding must be properly planned and erected and tied
David Knowles, 54, of Station Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court today. He was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £3,944 costs.
After the hearing HSE inspector Mark Molyneux said:
“Construction workers’ lives depend on scaffolds. Scaffold businesses must ensure their workers are trained and competent and that scaffolds meet the requirements and are tied correctly.
If Mr Knowles had ensured the scaffolding had been properly planned and erected and tied by a competent person, this incident would never have happened and a man would not have suffered a painful injury as a result.”