06.01.2004

Steelwork firm fined for unsafe lift

Darlington, UK based Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company has been fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,519 following an accident in Canary Wharf, London, where a 1.7 tonne staircase being lifted by a crane fell more than 70 metres, narrowly missing workers on the ground.

The company was found guilty of undertaking unsafe lifting operations, breaching Section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The accident was caused by the failure of the attachments securing the staircase as it was being lifted into place by a crane. This resulted in a 7.5 metre long steel staircase falling more than 70 metres to the ground, demolishing a boundary fence and bouncing off a heavily used site footpath before coming to rest near some workers on site at Canary Wharf job site.

Commenting on the accident, HSE inspector Andy Beal said: "It's remarkable that no one was seriously injured or killed when this
heavy staircase hit the ground. It was dropped because of shortcomings in Cleveland Bridge's design of the lifting equipment used, in the training of their staff and the monitoring of lifting operations on site. Any firm carrying out lifting operations must plan the work properly and communicate effectively with their workforce.”