Durham Firm Fined For Dangerous Construction Site

In June 2010 an anonymous call made to the HSE instigated an unannounced inspection of a construction site in Aberdeen, run by MK Builders (North East) Ltd – a County Durham construction firm. The firm were carrying out work to convert a hotel building into a residential development of 30 flats. When the HSE inspectors arrived they discovered a number of dangerous practices, which have since led to them receiving a £4,000 fine after pleading guilty to breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. One of the main concerns expressed by the HSE inspectors was that as soon as they arrived on site they opened a door to discover a worker had been dropping rubbish and debris through the middle of the building from the 3rd floor to the ground floor! They reported that timber had piled up on the ground floor beneath a hole, and there were no signs in place to warn people of the falling rubbish. On further investigation, they discovered that similar holes had been left in the floor at each level to allow for quick and easy disposal of the rubbish, all of which had unprotected edges and could easily result in people falling up to 10 meters! The worker collecting and dumping the rubbish through the holes was carrying a fall arrest harness, but this would have been inadequate in the circumstances and should only have been a last resort anyway. Another issue raised concerned the blockage of a fire exit, as access to the door was restricted by the piles of rubbish being dropped through the holes. The same door was frequently used by workers to access a portable toilet, and any worker crossing the hazardous area would simply ‘shout up’ to ensure nothing was dropped onto them. As a result the HSE served 2 notices on the firm in control of the site to halt the dangerous practices. These notices were: •To stop any further work being carried out near the open flooring until suitable fall prevention measures were in place. •To stop debris being thrown through the holes in the floor to prevent others being struck by falling objects. The Principe Inspector in the case, Mr Blackburn was keen to emphasise the fact that falls from height are one of the main causes of death and serious injury in the workplace, and as such it is irresponsible of employers to ignore the risks posed by unsafe working practices like these. The working practices MK Builders had allowed not only breached regulations, but could have very easily had horrific consequences. The breaches were more disgraceful as it would have been very simple to protect against the risks they’d created – all they needed was a simple scaffold structure, some fixed guard rails, and an enclosed rubbish disposal chute. It’s essential that cases like this are investigated and prosecuted to highlight the hazardous environments many people are currently working in. Employers need to be aware that if they place their workers at risk unnecessarily, there will be serious legal consequences even if your employees manage to escape the harmful risks. Simple training and the appointment of a delegated employee to take responsibility and enforce a positive health and safety policy is all it takes to keep your employees safe.

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