15.10.2005

Inquest rules on Scaffold accident

Manchester Coroners court ruled this week that the death of apprentice scaffolder Steven Burke, 17, in January 2004, was an accident.

Steven Burke was a 17 year old apprentice working for 3D scaffolding on a Molem job site in Davyhulme Manchester. Earlier this week the coroner’s court ruled that he was killed accidentally.

How this will effect any prosecution by the HSE we do not know. The facts of this case provide an illustration on how apparent minor infringements of safety precautions might lead to such a serious accident.

This case was the subject of a file on four programme on Radio Four in July 2004. the transcript is published on line if you follow this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/fileon4_20040713_apprenticeships.pdf

There were four unqualified apprentices working on the site the day Burke died. The job was inside a 20metre diameter sewage treatment tank over 20 metres high. Burke slipped and fell around 20 metres and suffered severe head injuries from which he died after being airlifted to hospital.

As he was under 18, Burke should have been working with a qualified “Mentor”, instead he was accompanied by another unqualified trainee. 3D scaffolding has been subject to at least three HSE prohibition orders for health and safety issues.

Vertikal Comment

Take a look at the File at Four transcript, particularly pages 10 to 15, it is a very personal and descriptive description of the accident by those involved, including the missing Mentor, the apprentice who was working alongside, Burke’s father and others.