Personal Injury Solicitors

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a scaffolding company and its director after a scaffold collapsed onto a busy high street used by children to get to and from school.

The scaffold fell on High Street, Stretham in Cambridgeshire in April 2013, just three days after it was erected outside a house by Crusaders Scaffolding Ltd and its director Gary Driver.

A large covering of plastic sheeting had been attached to the outside of the scaffold to protect passers-by, as the work being carried out on the house involved shot blasting and steam jetting.

However, this acted as a sail and caused the scaffolding to blow over in the wind.
An HSE investigation found the two-storey structure – around 11 metres long and 4.5 metres high –had not been secured to the property in any way.

On Thursday (31/07/14) at Cambridge Magistrates Court, Crusaders Scaffolding Ltd – registered at High Street, Saffron Walden in Essex, but operating from Great North Road in Buckden – was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £526 in costs, after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and one of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Gary John Driver, 51, of Hunts End in Buckden, St Neots in Cambridgeshire was fined £5,000 with £500 costs, after he also pleaded guilty to one breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector John Berezansky said:

“It was extremely fortunate that no-one was working on the scaffold at the time and that no-one or nothing was hit when it fell.

“This is a busy high street used by children to get to and from the local school –
had the scaffold fallen during the morning or afternoon school run, it could have been a different story.

“The scaffold fell well below the required standard – in essence, Crusaders Scaffolding created an unsecured sail that fell over in the wind.

“Gary Driver was directly involved in the commissioning and construction of the scaffold.

“The risks associated with scaffolding are well known in the industry and to have not secured the structure was a basic error.”

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – Public Liability Accident Claims/Accidents in Public Places

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of personal injury solicitors and can advise members of the public on how to make no win no fee Public Liability Claims for injuries which happen in public places as a result of the negligence of another party.

Public Liability Claims can include accidents on the street, in supermarket car parks, at leisure centres, sports events or in parks, at theatres and cinemas or at fairgrounds or public play areas.

Personal injury claimants usually have three years from the date of injury in which to make a no win no fee compensation claim – and children have three years from the age of which to make a claim.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Public Liability Claims and compensation claims for Accidents in Public Places, contact Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.