Construction Firm fined €40,000 for unsafe scaffolding
Tuesday 8th November
Fines of €40,000 and €500 were handed down on Monday 7th October by Judge Patrick Moran in the Cork Circuit Criminal Court to KSD Construction Services Ltd and Daniel Kelleher a Director of KSD Construction Services Ltd respectively, for breaches to the 2005 Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act. The case arose as the result of a routine construction site inspection by the Health and Safety Authority in August 2009.
The court heard that on 27th of August 2009 Michael Flynn an Inspector with the Health and Safety Authority made an unannounced site visit to a construction site at Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork. During that inspection a number of serious issues in relation to the scaffolding were identified;
• Inadequacy / lack of ties to the structures against which the scaffolding was erected
• Insufficient / no bracing leaving the scaffolding structurally unstable and unsafe to use
• Scaffold Platforms too narrow for the work being done
• Inadequately secured scaffold platform boards
• Tube & Fitting scaffold overhanging the edge of an 8m deep excavation supported by an unsuitable ladder beam
The investigation and resulting court case showed that Mr. Kelleher as a Director of KSD Construction Services Ltd had authorised the erection of a scaffold in a manner that made it unsafe to use.
Speaking after the judgement, Martin O’Halloran Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority said,
“The Health and Safety Authority carries out an ongoing programme of workplace inspections. Where inspectors' find failures, unsafe practices and legal breaches, which have potential for harm to workers or members of the public, they will use the enforcements instruments provided in the legislation up to and including prosecution to ensure there is appropriate corrective action.”
Mr. O’Halloran continued,
“Directors and senior managers have specific duties of care to their employees under health and safety law.”