‘’Death-Trap’’ Scaffolding fall causes a company to be fined €18,000 over six charges of Health & Safety legislation breaches.

‘’Death-Trap’’ Scaffolding fall causes a company to be fined €18,000 over six charges of Health & Safety legislation breaches.

The District Court heard that a worker fell over six metres from a scaffolding which the prosecuting counsel called a ‘’death-trap’’. €9,000 State’s costs was also order to be paid by the company.

The accident in which the worker was injured when he fell through rotten floorboards resulted in six offences under the SHWW Act 2005 & Construction Regulations 2013. The charges related to failing to manage, failure to train workers & failure to ensure that workers were in possession of a CSCS card.

David O’Connell, the HSA Inspector, has reported the accident to the court as follows: the worker was standing on the third floor platform level when the rotten wooden floor had collapsed. He fell twice, once onto the second floor and then he went through the boards again and landed on the tower’s first level, a total drop of six metres.

The inspector said that the scaffolding had no bracing; there were not enough ties attaching the tower to the building; a platform on the scaffolding was not in compliance with codes of practice; there were no guard rails and it had rotten boards.

Prosecuting counsel argued that the company was responsible for the ‘’death-trap’’.