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April 10, 2014

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Builder fined after woman injured in wall collapse

 

A builder has been prosecuted for safety breaches after a wall collapsed in a woman’s garden leaving her badly injured.
 
The 61-year-old from Waterloo, suffered a broken jaw, a double fracture to her right ankle, plus cuts and bruises, when she was struck by the collapse of the two-metre, earth-retaining wall on 9 September 2011.
 
Kirklees Magistrates’ court was told an investigation by HSE found Lee Marsden, director of MWK Group LLP, failed to ensure the wall was properly built to withstand the pressures of an earth-retaining structure.
 
Mr Marsden had been involved first-hand in the work on site and directed the other workers on the build. During the construction, cracks began to appear in the wall. Work was temporarily halted by adequate precautions were not taken to ensure the safety of the residents in the house.
 
Lee Marsden, of Dewhurst Road, Fartown, was sentenced on 9 April after pleading guilty to breaching section 37(1) of HSWA 1974. Magistrates fined Mr Marsden £140 and ordered him to pay £100 in costs.
 
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Dave Stewart, said: “Construction work should only be undertaken by those competent to do the job safely in accordance with a design that deals with the specific risks. Mr Marsden did not recognise the dangers posed by the structure he built, which was incapable of retaining the forces exerted upon it.
 
“He also failed to prevent access to the wall when cracks appeared, and it was recognised as unstable. The wall did collapse and, sadly, the householder was in the garden at the time and was seriously injured.
 
“Building contractors should engage competent engineers to advise on suitable designs for structures that will be subject to considerable loads. Inadequate design is a major cause of structural failure — the consequences of which can be serious and often fatal.”

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

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