A BBC TV crew filming for the series ‘Trauma’ has helped the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) gather information that led to a construction company being prosecuted after a worker died after falling from scaffolding.

Footage from the TV documentary about trauma doctors has been used to help secure a conviction against the building company Regentford Ltd, based at Rookwood Road, Hackney in northeast London.

In February 2005, 25-year-old mason and plasterer Balwinder Kumar – also known as Binder Singh – from Forest Gate was repointing brickwork when he fell from scaffolding at the rear of a building in High Street, South Norwood in Croydon. 

Mr Kumar suffered serious head injuries in the fall from the first storey of the building and was taken to King’s College Hospital, where he died on 1 March, 2005.

When HSE went to investigate the incident, the scaffolding Mr Kumar had been standing on had been removed. However, during the investigation it emerged that a BBC television crew filming the documentary ‘Trauma’, had been accompanying medical staff who attended the site.

The HSE obtained footage showing scaffolding in very poor condition, with insufficient guard rails and an inadequate working platform.

The HSE investigation discovered that health and safety on the site had not been managed appropriately by Regentford Ltd – and there was no one in effective control of health and safety on the site, inspectors said.

On Tuesday (06/04/10) at Croydon Crown Court, Regentford Ltd was convicted of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974, following an eight-day trial. The company was fined £250,000 with £71,603.01costs.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Nigel Evans said that footage from the BBC documentary showed that the scaffolding was ‘totally inadequate for the job in hand’.

‘We will use all evidence at our disposal to prosecute employers who fail to manage health and safety risks properly,’ said Mr Evans.

‘Mr Kumar needlessly lost his life on a small construction site, and it is these smaller sites where a significant proportion of fatalities in the industry occur each year. 

‘The message is simple: whatever the size of company or site, you have exactly the same responsibility to make sure employees have a safe and healthy working environment – and we can and will prosecute if these duties are neglected,’ Mr Evans added.

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