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Occupational health and safety news and guidance

Blog posts : "scaffold"

Safety at Height: Ladders Vs. Scaffold Towers

Photo shows a woman using a ladder incorrectly for DIYIn the UK every single year there are accidents related to falling from height that could and should have been avoided. In total, between 2013 and 2014 there were nearly 3,000 incidents where employees were injured from falls from height. Of that figure, 39 people died; that’s 39 people whose lives …

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Loft company fined after employee injured in scaffold collapse

Photo shows the aftermath of the scaffold collapseA loft conversion company has been fined for safety failings after an employee was injured in a dramatic scaffold collapse outside a property in North London.

The structure buckled, tipped towards the home it was being used to serve and bent in on itself – effectively creating a chute that sent t…

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Scaffolding safety: 5 scaffolding safety do’s

Photo shows a worker on scaffoldingThis blog explores the subject of safe scaffolding and focuses on 5 scaffolding do’s which ensure safety of a scaffolding work site. Read on for valuable information on how to maintain safety on site and ensure the wellbeing of workers and members of the public when scaffolding work is taking place.…

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How to avoid a worker's compensation claim on your construction zone

Photo shows a worker on a construction siteThe number of work related injuries, both in the UK and Australia, is quite high. In fact, 2012-2013 saw an estimated 646,000 work related accidents with 1/3 of those leading to three or more missed work days and another 1/3, seven or more missed days. While self-reported non-fatal injuries have fal…

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Scaffolding firm in court for department store failings

Photo is an extract from the CCTV footage showing the unsafe scaffolding work

A Hertfordshire scaffolding firm has been fined for a catalogue of safety failings – including throwing and catching metal fittings over the heads of shoppers – as they erected two scaffolds outside an Oxford department store.

Darren Baker Scaffolding Limited also failed to ensure the structu…

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Firm fined for unsafe Oxfordshire scaffolds

Photo shows the scaffold in Wantage with missing ties, bracing and vehicle impact protection

A scaffolding firm has been fined for dangerous scaffold installations at sites in Wantage and Oxford.

Workers and passing members of the public alike were placed at risk because of faults with the structures, which included missing ties, bracing and vehicle impact protection.

West Hagbourne-bas…

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Scaffolding firm sentenced over worker's death

Photo shows skylight Tony Causby fell 13 metres through

A scaffolding firm has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 in fines and costs following the death of an employee who plunged 13 metres through the roof of a Skelmersdale warehouse.

Married father-of-one Tony Causby, 42, from Leigh, was helping to dismantle scaffolding when he stepped onto a f…

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Trafford scaffolding firm caught on camera risking lives

Workers on unsafe scaffolding outside a row of terraced shops in OldhamA Trafford firm has appeared in court after workers were spotted taking down scaffolding without safety measures to prevent them being injured in a fall.

They were witnessed working on the outside of a row of terraced shops on Ripponden Road in Oldham on 4 September 2012 by a passing inspector from…

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Refurbishment firm fined for exposing workers to fall risk

Unsafe work on the roof of a large furniture store in Bridgtown, CannockA Willenhall refurbishment and shop fitting company has been fined for safety failings after instructing two employees to work at height without any protective measures or relevant roofwork training.

The men were working on the roof of a large furniture store in Bridgtown, Cannock, on 26 September …

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Working with height safely: How to use risk assessment

Photo shows scaffolding at a construction sitePeople who work high above the ground have a number of things to consider so that they stay safe. From telephone line workers to tree pruners to window cleaners, all personnel who must work high above the ground need the best, most stable access equipment for height.

Equipment that provides support…

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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 demo…

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Construction firms sentenced over worker's fatal fall

The construction site where Christopher Heaton fell to his deathTwo construction companies have been fined a total of £301,000 after a worker fell 22 metres to his death in Manchester.

Christopher Heaton, from St Helens, was working on the Leftbank riverside apartments in Manchester city centre - part of the Spinningfields development - when he was dragged…

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Worker's safety pleas ignored by South West London firm

A former Croydon construction company has been prosecuted after a worker fell eight metres from a scaffold tower that he hadn’t wanted to build for safety reasons.

Green Acre Homes (South East) Ltd., which ceased to operate a year ago, failed to listen to the concerns raised by handyman Joh…

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Wirral roofer prosecuted after lives put at risk

Daniel Loftus (right) on the roof with a labourer holding a lit gas burnerA Wirral roofer has been prosecuted after he allowed a labourer to use a lit gas burner on a house roof without any measures in place to stop him being injured in a fall.

Daniel Loftus was photographed on the roof of a terraced house on Mainwaring Road, Wallasey, approximately five metres …

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Suffolk roofer caught on camera risking lives

Anthony Nightingale caught on cameraThe director of a Suffolk roofing firm has been sentenced for safety failings after he was caught on camera using a power tool while balancing on the ridge of a house roof.

Anthony Nightingale of Copdock, Ipswich, was filmed using a petrol-powered disc cutter to cut through a tile while he an…

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Landlord prosecuted after builder falls to his death

A landlord has been fined after a self-employed builder died while replacing a roof on a property in Middlesex.

Mr Jagdev Singh Bal, the landlord of a property on Upton Road, Hounslow, was contacted by his letting agency when tenants reported a wet ceiling in an upstairs bathroom.

Mr Bal engag…

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Construction firm fined for repeatedly ignoring safety warnings

Dangerous systems and procedures for working at height at Sylvan HillA construction company has been fined for continuing unsafe working practices at a site in Upper Norwood, Croydon, after repeatedly ignoring safety warnings.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified multiple failings at a project on Sylvan Hill run by Unicorn Services Limited, where t…

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Scaffold collapse injuries lead to fine

A former scaffolding company director has been fined after two employees were injured in a scaffold collapse.

A 26-year-old man working for Robert Leslie Butler fractured his left ankle and right heel as he jumped six metres from a scaffold tower at student accommodation on Radford Boulevard, N…

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Seven survive concrete collapse at John Moores University

Seven construction workers were lucky to survive when more than 250 tonnes of wet concrete collapsed at Liverpool John Moores University, a court has been told.

Two companies have been fined a total of £100,000 over the incident, which occurred during the construction of an atrium for a new A…

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Warwickshire building firm fined for worker's fall

A building firm from Stratford-upon-Avon has been prosecuted after a worker suffered severe injuries when he fell from a damaged scaffolding plank at a site in South Warwickshire.

The 62-year-old man, Frederick Stuart, from Stratford-upon-Avon, was standing on a single piece of scaffolding bo…

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20 Blog Posts