11.09.2003

UK contractor fined over unsafe site

Two Hampshire-based companies in the UK were today fined a total of £8,000 and ordered to pay £3,238 costs after an inspection of a construction site found that risk of injury from falls from height and heavy plant were not properly controlled.

Chamlore Development was convicted at Alton Magistrates Court today of an offence under The Health and Safety at Work Act sections 2[1] and 3[1] and Regulation 6 [3] of the Construction [Health, Safety and Welfare] Regulations 1996, during contract work at Dogmersfield Park, Hartley Wintney in January 2003. They were fined £2,000 per charge, which made a total of £6,000.

Dogersfield Park, also of Hampshire, developers of the new hotel also faced a charge of contravening their duty as Client under Regulation 8[3] of the Construction [Design and Management] Regulations 1994 [CDM Regs] by failing to appoint a competent Principal Contractor to run the site. They were fined £2,000.

An HSE Inspector visited the site in January 2003 and found that risks of injury by falling from height had not been properly controlled at a number of locations. It was also found that arrangements for segregating pedestrians from heavy plant fell short of the standards required.

Chamlore Development were charged under The Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974 sections 2[1] and 3[1], of failing to ensure the safety of their employees and other persons on the site. They are also charged under Regulation 6 [3] of the Construction [Health, Safety and Welfare] Regulations 1996 of failing to protect persons from falling from height.

This prosecution comes during the second HSE Blitz on Falls from Height in Construction. HSE Inspectors will be out in force visiting construction sites in the South East during September, checking on falls from height risks. This follows a similar blitz held in June and is part of the second phase of ‘Don’t Fall For It’, a Europe-wide campaign aimed at reducing falls from height in construction.

The Court heard that falls from height, and accidents involving moving plant, together cause the majority of fatal construction accidents in Great Britain. Seventy-one workers were killed in the construction industry in Great Britain last year with the average number of construction fatalities running at around one hundred per annum in recent times.

The HSE Inspector alleged that failure to appoint a competent contactor was the underlying cause of the bad safety standards found at the Dogmersfield Park site.

Commenting after the case, Principal Inspector Andrew Gordon said: “falls from height and site transport accidents are the main causes of death and injury in the construction industry. These risks must be properly managed and this is an example where adequate steps were not taken by the dutyholder. This case shows that property developers with very little knowledge of health and safety must ensure that they appoint someone, or train their own managers, to manage their health and safety responsibilities. This problem can arises when developers move on to larger and more complex projects without employing or training managers able to cope with the health and safety responsibilities.”