Risk, Health and Safety Information

Construction firm fined after worker's narrow escape

A construction worker defied death after falling four metres from the cage of a 20-tonnes cherry-picker into the path of a moving bus, which then pushed him another 15 metres along the Euston Road.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted national construction firm Galliford Try Construction Limited for serious safety failings which led to Camden worker Leszek Soltysiak suffering severe injuries.

The employee was part of a two-man team brought in by Galliford Try to fix snagging issues at the iconic St Pancras Renaissance Hotel and Chambers, which had just undergone a £103 million restoration by the company.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard the firm arranged for two workers from the logistics team to remove tape from the outside of an apartment window on the third floor of the residential block in the early hours of 4 March 2011.

As scaffolding had been removed from the site, the men had to move a cherrypicker from a compound in Euston Road to another in Midland Road to enable them to carry out the job. Mr Soltysiak began to reverse the machine out of the exit onto Euston Road, raising his operator platform to clear the fencing. Deciding it was clear, he continued backing out unaware that a double-decker bus had just turned into the road.

The second worker waved at the bus to try to get it to stop but it was dark and the bus driver saw nothing. The top of the bus hit the operator platform overhanging the road forcing the jib to slew across and hit a brick gate post. The collision catapulted the driver from the platform and he fell to the ground in front of the still moving bus.

The bus driver braked, thinking he had hit a tree and stopped about 15 metres further along. Mr Soltysiak was found partially underneath the front nearside. He suffered serious head, arm, pelvis and leg injuries and was only able to return to work earlier this year.

HSE's investigation found the incident could have been avoided if Galliford Try had fulfilled their duty to properly plan and supervise the work.

After the hearing (on 11 April) HSE Inspector Paul Hems said:

"This worker narrowly escaped death after a series of events which almost seem unbelievable but in fact could have proved fatal.

"A 14-metres long slow-moving machine, not suitable for use on a public highway, was moved against the flow of traffic on to a three-lane road. Both workers were without high visibility clothing and there were no visible warning lights on the cherry-picker despite it being early morning and still dark which made it, and the men, effectively invisible to the bus driver.

The dangers involved using cherry-pickers are well known and yet the company failed to ensure safe movement of the vehicle between different compounds at the site.

"The company also failed to provide adequate and relevant information and instruction to their employees."

Galliford Try Construction Limited, of Cowley Business Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, was fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £16,459.70 after pleading guilty to two serious breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.