Workers injured when scaffolding collapses
A KENT company, RPS Scaffolding Ltd, has been fined following an incident where a scaffold the company erected collapsed, injuring two workers.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that on 10 August 2020, two individuals were injured when a scaffold they were working from on Thorpebank Road, London collapsed.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found RPS Scaffolding Ltd erected a scaffold to enable the exterior of the property to be decorated. The scaffold erected did not conform to standard configuration and it was erected without strength and stability calculations being carried out. Soon after the two individuals accessed the top lift of the scaffold it collapsed. One of them suffered a fractured shoulder, elbow and wrist while the other suffered a fractured shoulder.
RPS Scaffolding Ltd of 24 Chaplin Drive, Headcorn, Ashford, Kent pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 8(b)(ii) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The court fined them £40,000 and awarded full costs of £4,705.16.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Adam Thompson commented, “The Work at Height Regulations are clear, where scaffolding is erected that does not conform with a generally recognised standard configuration then strength and stability calculations shall be carried out.
“RPS Scaffolding Ltd’s failure to do this resulted in a scaffold that was unsuitable for its use that collapsed within the first morning of its use, injuring two people and putting the public at risk.”
