Construction News

01/05/2013

Contractor Fined After Two People Were Hit By A Hoarding

A building contractor has been fined after two pensioners were hit by a hoarding that collapsed in high winds.

Gary Bluff Projects Ltd, of Sheffield, was refurbishing a restaurant at Highcross shopping centre in Leicester when the incident happened on 22 February 2012.

The Health and Safety Executive today (30 April) told Leicester magistrates the firm had put up hoarding consisting of plywood attached to metal fencing around two metres high around the outside of the restaurant, but it had not been properly designed and was unable to withstand high winds.

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Part of the hoarding blew over and hit an elderly couple as they walked past, knocking them over and leaving the couple in shock. The woman received hospital treatment for her injuries.

Gary Bluff Projects Ltd, of Paradise Square, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 25(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 for failing to ensure the hoarding was properly designed and installed. The company was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,735 and a total of £500 compensation to the two victims.

(CD)

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