I was just reading that two Scottish companies have just been fined a total of £400,000 for breaches of health and safety legislation that resulted in the death of a stonemason’s labourer at a Glasgow Construction site.
James Kelly had been working on the third level of a loading tower of scaffolding that had been erected on a construction site in Glasgow. On 26 April 2007, Mr Kelly fell from the scaffolding loading tower platform to the ground. He died from his injuries. A single guard rail was found on the ground close to where Mr Kelly was found.
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive found that there was no safe system of work in place for loading materials onto the loading tower. The loading tower also did not have sufficient guard rails and toe boards. Neither company had ensured that the tower and access scaffolding was properly inspected on a regular basis.
Both of the companies involved in the construction were fined £200,000 each for their breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
It is so sad to see that such a tragic accident could have been prevented if proper steps had been taken.
John Shelton, HSE Inspector said: “There is no excuse for the contractors not to have agreed procedures as to how this work was to be done and ensured that this routine work was carried out safely.”
