The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a building company after an HSE inspector spotted unsafe scaffolding as he was driving past a site.

In June 2008, the HSE’s Steve Woods was passing the Coach and Horses Inn in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, which was undergoing refurbishments to the flat roof.

Mr Woods noticed that the scaffolding had no edge protection, inadequate boarding that was not attached properly – and it was propped up on bricks and blocks. A manager from the contractor Bracknell Roofing Co Ltd had visited the site and allowed work to continue only 45 minutes before Mr Woods had arrived and discovered the defects. 

On Wednesday (25/11/09) at Skegness Magistrates’ Court, Bracknell Roofing Co Ltd, of Suffolk Way, Sevenoaks in Kent pleaded guilty to guilty to breaching Regulations 4(1) and 8b(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £2,572.80.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Steve Woods said:

‘This inadequate tower scaffold was owned by Bracknell Roofing and had been taken out of their depot just for this job. The three men on site refused to give me the name of the company and also gave false names and contact details.   

‘Falls from height remain the most common kind of workplace fatality.  The men were at risk of serious injury either from falling off the roof or the tower scaffold.’

Mr Woods said the case showed ‘the need for companies to ensure that work at height is properly planned and supervised – and that equipment provided is suitable and maintained in good condition’.   

He added:

 ‘In this case, the equipment that should have been used was easily available and could have been provided by the company if adequate planning of the work had been undertaken. 

‘The unsafe working practice should have been stopped by the company manager when he visited site.’

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