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Demolition firm fined for safety failings

A demolition firm and its director have been fined for endangering workers at a site in Lancing, West Sussex.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Rabbit Demolition and Excavation Ltd. and its director, Colin Bell, for not providing a safe means for working on a roof during the demolition of the Ball Tree Inn, on Busticle Lane, Sompting, between the 12 and 21 September last year.

Worthing Magistrates' Court heard today (16 July) that a member of the public sent HSE a photograph showing workers on the site, run by Rabbit Demolition, removing roof tiles from the former pub with no edge protection in place to prevent falls. One worker was also shown to be standing in the bucket of an excavator being driven by Colin Bell.

HSE investigated and found working practices were unsafe and unnecessary, and that edge protection in the form of scaffolding could have been provided.

Alternatively, the work could have been safely carried out using a mobile elevated working platform.

Rabbit Demolition and Excavation Ltd., of Unit 2, Chartwell Road, Lancing, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to breaching section 25(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The firm was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,500.

Colin Bell, director of Rabbit Demolition and Excavation Ltd., of Edgehill Way, Portslade, Brighton, also pleaded guilty to the same breach. He was fined £500 with costs of £500.

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