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Scaffolding contractor fined £9k over collapse

15 Nov 11 The director of a scaffolding contractor from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, has been fined after a roofer was injured during a scaffold collapse.

The 48-year-old roofer, from Nottingham, fell six metres and fractured his pelvis in four places after scaffolding built on behalf of David Knowles collapsed at a house in Montpelier Road, Nottingham, on 20 October 2009. He was off work for four months.

A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the scaffolding had not been built by a competent scaffolder, was not erected to a standard configuration and had not been tied correctly.

Mr Knowles was prosecuted for failing to ensure that people not in his employment were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

After the hearing HSE inspector Mark Molyneux said: "Construction workers’ lives depend on scaffolds. Scaffold businesses must ensure their workers are trained and competent and that scaffolds meet the requirements and are tied correctly.

“If Mr Knowles had ensured the scaffolding had been properly planned and erected and tied by a competent person, this incident would never have happened and a man would not have suffered a painful injury as a result."

David Knowles, 54, of Station Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court today. He was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £3,944 costs.

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