Risk of structural collapse not identified by designer

One of Northern Ireland’s largest construction firms has been fined a total of £75,000 after a section of a portable office unit caved in on top of an employee, fatally injuring him.
Sitting on 5 October, Antrim Crown Court heard that on 19 September 2006, Desmond Stevenson, 62, a joiner employed by Henry Brothers, had been removing temporary bracing inside a section of a pre-fabricated unit that was being repositioned to another location 1000 metres away, at RAF Aldergrove, 15 miles from Belfast. The firm had been moving ten of the units as part of a £7.5m contract it had secured.
 


Ken Logan, an HSENI inspector who was part of the investigating team, told SHP that the bracing that should have supported the structure during relocation had been inadequate. “The problem was, that when the operation was being planned at the design stage, nobody considered the potential for it to collapse,” he said.

He went on: “It was clearly foreseeable that there was a risk of the structure collapsing. The lead designer, Anthony Stewart, and Henry Brothers should have realised this state of instability and instructed structural engineers to design an adequate temporary bracing system to be placed inside the line of the structure, so that it could be put in its final position and only then the temporary bracing system removed. They did not do so and, as a result, a 62-year-old joiner paid the ultimate price.”

Henry Brothers (Magherafelt) Ltd had previously pleaded guilty to breaching Article 4(2)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978 by failing to ensure a safe system of work, and reg.9(1) of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations (NI) 1996 by failing to ensure the stability of a structure. It was fined £60,000 on the first charge and £15,000 on the second.

Stewart was fined £5000 after pleading guilty to a breach of Article 8(a) of the Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978 by not ensuring the safety of himself and other persons. No costs were awarded against him.

“Designers have an obligation to design out risks, or identify them so that they can be properly managed,” inspector Logan said. “In this case the residual risk of collapse was not identified and clearly should have been. If it had been identified, this fatal accident would have been prevented.”

In mitigation, Stewart said he had not fully appreciated his role and responsibilities as a designer in the operation. Henry Brothers said it had a very good health and safety record. It had put its employees through extensive training to ensure such an incident could never happen again. There were lessons to be learned and they had taken them on board. Both expressed their condolences to the victim’s family.

Henry Brothers was ordered to pay a contribution to costs of £15,000.