A demolition firm has admitted failing to take adequate precautions to protect workers and members of the public before it began knocking down a disused cinema in Lancashire.
Gaskells Demolition Services Ltd was contracted to demolish the Orion building in Thornton Cleveleys, near Blackpool, so that a supermarket could be constructed at the site. The art-deco building opened as a cinema in 1934 before being converted into the Orion bingo hall in 1965. It closed permanently in October 2009.
The company erected scaffolding with light debris netting around the front of the building and used a high-reach excavator to demolish small parts of the building. On 17 June 2010, workers were using the excavator when a coping stone became dislodged from the top of the building and fell on to the top deck of the scaffolding. This caused the scaffold to become unbalanced and detach itself from the building. It collapsed into the A587 during rush hour, pulling part of the building down into the road with it. Nobody was injured during the collapse.
The HSE’s investigation found that the scaffolding was not suitable for holding heavy pieces of debris. It also established that the firm should have set up an exclusion zone around the building and applied to the local authorities for temporary road closures while the work took place. HSE inspector, Anthony Polec, said: “The risk of buildings unexpectedly collapsing is well known in the demolition industry but Gaskells failed to take adequate action to prevent lives being put in danger.
“The company should have put suitable measures in place to protect the public, such as applying to close the roads while the demolition work took place, and setting up an exclusion zone to keep the public away.
“It could also have erected façade-retention scaffolding that could support the building, rather than relying on employees to keep a look-out for passers-by. This was entirely inappropriate, given the demolition work was taking place next to a busy dual carriageway on a weekday morning. It’s only luck that no one was seriously injured.”
Gaskells Demolition Services appeared at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court on 11 May and pleaded guilty to breaching reg. 29(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, for failing to properly plan the work. It was fined £5000 and ordered to pay £3000 towards costs.
In mitigation, the firm said it had an exemplary health and safety record and had cooperated with the investigation. It believed that the system of work it used was safe, but it accepted in hindsight that it should have set up an exclusion zone and applied for the road to be closed. It entered an early guilty plea and expressed its remorse for the incident.
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