Worker died after multiple scaffolding safety failures

A Maidstone broadcasting facility has been sentenced after a maintenance worker fell five metres through a roof and died.

Justin Hewitt fell through an opening that was being created on the roof of the premises of Maidstone Studios Ltd on 23 September 2015.

The HSE found that the tower scaffold used to access the roof was damaged, had not been correctly erected and had been purchased second hand by Maidstone Studios with no manufacturer’s instructions. No formal planning had been recorded for the work, which was outside the scope of the general maintenance duties of the team.

According to the HSE, the work had been discussed, and planned to be carried out from below, but no-one had identified the errors with the towers, ladder sections being the wrong way round, damaged bracing or the inadequate guardrails.

The towers were erected by Mr Hewitt, but he had been given no formal training on how they should be erected safely. Although he was supervising the work, no checks were made of how it was actually being carried out.

Maidstone Studios Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £30,000 with costs of £6,487.76.

Commenting after the hearing, HSE Inspector Stephen Green said: “Had the work been properly planned with suitable access equipment, correctly placed and erected, by those with adequate training, the work could have been done safely and this tragedy could have been averted.

“Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work related fatalities in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well known.”

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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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