Two Firms Prosecuted for Dangerous Building Site

Health & Safety update 05/10/2011

Two construction companies have been fined for "appalling" standards at a building site in London.

The HSE prosecuted the principal contractor and the subcontractor after visiting the site in Wimbledon on several occasions.

The principal contractor had already been served with four Prohibition Notices, one of which was actually breached while HSE Inspectors were on site.

The Court heard there had been no safe access to the first floor under construction at the site. Instead, there was a makeshift 'staircase' formed from a bag of sand and piles of blocks, leading to the roof of a hut. The first floor was accessed from the hut roof via wooden planks, spanning the gap between them. There was no edge protection to prevent falls.

The Inspectors found a wooden gangway built the day before to provide access to the first floor was inadequate. There was also a 2.5 metre-deep excavation with no precautions taken to prevent people falling into it or the sides of the excavation collapsing in on anyone working within it. All work on site was stopped.

The work areas around the site were uneven, littered with obstructions and trip hazards. Building materials had been stacked excessively high and stored haphazardly. Welfare facilities on-site were also extremely poor. The toilet was filthy and had a leaking cold water supply.

Neither company had employees with sufficient training, experience or a recognised qualification in site management.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Loraine Charles said, "Although there was no incident, the potential danger to the workers was very high. Conditions on this site were simply appalling. This is a shocking example of bad management of a construction site and it is a miracle that no one was injured. Both these companies failed to understand the nature of their duties under health and safety law and failed to sufficiently improve conditions on the site despite repeated interventions by the HSE. We will not hesitate to prosecute companies that behave in this way."

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