A company has been fined after a 1.7 ton staircase crashed 70 metres to the ground, narrowly missing some builders. Health and Safety inspector Andy Beal said it was lucky no-one was killed in the accident at Canary Wharf, London.
The steel structure demolished a boundary fence and bounced off a site footpath before coming to rest near some site workers on 8 March 2002.
Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company has been fined �15,000, after admitting a health and safety breach.
 |  It was dropped because of shortcomings in Cleveland Bridge's design of the lifting equipment  |
The Durham-based company was found guilty of failing to lift sections of the staircase "in such a way as to ensure the safety of persons not in their employment". The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the accident happened as the staircase was being lifted into place and the attachments securing it failed.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching a section of the Health and Safety Act, was fined �15,000 and ordered to pay legal costs of �4, 519.
Mr Beal said: "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 the site.
"Any firm carrying out lifting operations must plan the work properly and communicate effectively with their workforce."
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
