Staffordshire company fined over teen worker's death

A company in Staffordshire has been fined £100,000 today following the death of teenage worker three years ago.

Conder Structures Ltd was fined following the death of a 16-year-old ground worker in an incident in which two structural steel columns were blown down by the wind. This incident also resulted in another worker being struck a "glancing" blow.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution followed the accident, which occurred on 28 November 2000 during the erection of a steel-framed building designed by Conder Structures Ltd and erected by their subcontactors at the Project Arrow construction site, Magna Park, Lutterworth, Leicestershire.

Christopher Kesterton, who had left school only weeks before the accident, was employed by a firm of ground workers for two weeks and was killed after being struck by the falling 17-metre tall steel column, weighing almost two tonnes.

Lee William Neal, supervisor of the steel erection team, was supervising Christopher who was using a pneumatic breaker. Two columns were blown over in the wind after they had been bolted down at their bases but were otherwise freestanding. The two workers were near the columns and ran to escape following a shouted warning.

Whilst Lee Neal escaped without serious injury, Christopher was killed instantly.

The HSE said that the two steel columns fell principally because the steel erectors had been "unable to fit stabilising wedges between the columns' base plates and the concrete foundation, and the columns had been left free-standing".

Conder Structures Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSW Act), for failing to ensure the safety of a person not in their employment, at Leicester Crown Court, on Friday 4 July 2003.

The company admitted that the activities of their subcontractors were not adequately and competently supervised so as to ensure the safe erection of steel columns.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the design for the building included adequate health and safety information, contrary to Regulation 13 (2) (b) of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 1994 at Northampton Crown Court, on Friday 3 October 2003.

Today Conder Structures Limited was fined a total of £100,000 and ordered to pay £59374.51 costs at Leicester Crown Court.

HSE Inspector Mark Hatfield said: ''All designers should remember the critical part they play in the safety of the construction process. They need to have robust systems to ensure that designs are carried out or are supervised by trained and competent persons; that quality review procedures cover the most dangerous conditions in the life-time of a structure; and, that safety critical information is passed on to those who need to know it''.

This was Conder Structures Ltd's second prosecution for a fatality caused by falling steel work.

(gmcg)