A clothing import company based in east London has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a building collapsed while undergoing construction work.

In February 2007, Citytex UK Ltd allowed its employees to carry on working at the premises in Commercial Road, London E1, despite the extensive refurbishments.

Work was being carried out on a first floor wall at the front of the building, which included a large gap made in the brickwork and the removal of the chimney breasts. Late one afternoon, the front elevation of the building collapsed, scattering large amounts of debris onto the pavement nearby. The scaffolding at the front of the property fell onto a lamppost, thus preventing most of the rubble from landing on passersby and the road.

The road – a major thoroughfare – was closed for several days while rescuers searched the rubble for victims. Around 20 employees had been allowed to carry on working throughout the building, but no one was injured or killed in the collapse.

On Tuesday (12/01/10) at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, Citytex UK Ltd, of Greatorex Street, Tower Hamlets was fined £10,000 with costs of £35,000. The company was also ordered to pay £200 to each of four people who were in the building when it collapsed. The company had pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at a previous hearing in September 2009.

The investigation by the HSE found that plans for the work had been drawn up by architects and structural consultants, but the managing director of the clothing company was acting as the principal contractor and was being assisted by his son, who was in his teens. No construction phase plan had been drawn up – and the architect was unaware that any work was being carried out on the first floor. The HSE had not even been notified that any improvement work was taking place.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Sarah Snelling said that it was ‘sheer luck’ that no one had been killed or injured in the building collapse.

‘Construction work must be planned and carried out by competent builders,’ Ms Snelling advised. ‘If not, it can lead to a number of risks, including collapse.’ 

Ms Snelling added that, had Citytex complied with its legal duty to appoint a planning supervisor and a competent principal contractor, ‘then the risks would have been substantially reduced’.

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