Serious Injuries As Tumbling Tower Lands On Public

A company and its sole director have been fined after two members of the public were seriously injured by a falling scaffold tower on the busy Putney High Street in London.

The Health & Safety Executive found the tower had been assembled incorrectly and covered with sheeting which acted as a sail in windy conditions.

The company had previously been served a prohibition notice for unsafe scaffolding at another site.

On 19 July 2023, operatives working for Add Prop Limited assembled a mobile tower scaffold on the High Street while under the supervision of the director, Atif Riaz. The scaffold tower, which had been assembled incorrectly with inadequate measures to separate it from members of the public, was subsequently covered in sheeting.

Sailing into people

The sail effect of the sheeting caused the tower scaffold to overturn. The structure struck and trapped two members of the public, resulting in serious injuries.

Add Prop Limited was acting as principal contractor on a project to convert a commercial building into residential flats. Mr Riaz was both the project manager and site supervisor and was present overseeing the work on the day of the incident.

An investigation by the HSE found that Add Prop Limited had failed to ensure the temporary structure was designed, installed and maintained so that it could withstand foreseeable loads, including those created by wind acting on the sheeting.

Assemble and hope

The investigation also found that the tower scaffold had neither been assembled nor inspected by adequately trained and competent persons. It had not been erected in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions or established industry guidance.

Despite the well-known risks associated with wind loading on scaffold structures, neither the company nor Mr Riaz took adequate account of those risks before deciding to sheet the scaffold.

HSE guidance states that tower scaffolds must be erected by trained and competent persons and in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions. Dutyholders must also ensure temporary structures are stable and capable of withstanding foreseeable environmental conditions, including wind loading.

Fines & costs

Following a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Add Prop Limited was found guilty of breaching Regulation 19(2)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,000 in costs.

Atif Riaz, the company’s sole director, was found guilty of an offence under Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was fined £1,730 and ordered to pay £1,730 in costs.

Regular tower tumbles

HSE Inspector Daniel Burton said: “The public have a right to expect scaffolding they pass by is safe and has been properly installed, yet every year people are injured when scaffold towers overturn.

“In this case, two members of the public suffered serious injuries when a scaffold tower overturned on a busy high street. The risks associated with scaffold towers and wind loading are well known within the construction industry. This kind of incident simply should not happen.”

Picture: The scaffold fell onto a busy high street and injured two people.

www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/scaffold.htm