Rae Brown & Company Ltd was fined £4,000 for health and safety breaches at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
The court heard that on 24th July 2012 John William Wilson, then 47, was asked by his employer Rae Brown & Company to move the scaffolding and take it to another site. He and a colleague, an apprentice, arrived at the farmhouse owned by the partner of one of the company’s directors where two scaffold towers had been erected.
As Mr Wilson dismantled the structure he removed some elements which left the poles unstable. As the poles moved, the metal board he was standing on moved and fell, taking Mr Wilson with it. He broke an ankle and was knocked unconscious.
An HSE investigation found that neither Mr Wilson nor the apprentice working alongside him had received any formal training in the use of the type of scaffolding they were asked to work with.
Rae Brown & Company Limited, of Rose Street in Aberdeen, was fined £4,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of Regulations 4 and 8 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
HSE Inspector Liz Hunter said after the hearing: “The risks from falls at height are well known in the construction industry. Erecting and dismantling scaffolds should only be done by trained and skilled persons or under the supervision of such a person because you cannot entirely eliminate the risk of falls.
“No such training or supervision was provided by Rae Brown & Company to Mr Wilson and his apprentice. They should never have been allowed to dismantle scaffolding that had been left unsecured and unsupported in this way.”
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