Labourer killed in fall at private school after safety rules broken

TWO companies have been fined a total of £400,000 for breaches of health and safety legislation that resulted in the death of a stonemason's labourer who was working at a private school.

James Kelly, 50, was erecting stonework at Glasgow Academy in April 2007 when he fell about 30 feet from scaffolding.

After a three-week trial, his employer Stirling Stone Limited and Robertson Construction Central Limited were found to have failed to meet their health and safety obligations.

Mr Kelly had been employed as a labourer by Stirling Stone Limited, which had been contracted as stonemasons at the site in Colebrook Street, Glasgow, by Robertson Construction Central Ltd.

He was working on the third level of a loading tower of scaffolding that had been erected as part of construction work when he fell on 26 April 2007.

He died later from his injuries. A single guard rail was found on the ground close to where Mr Kelly was discovered.

Following the incident, inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) discovered that there was no safe system of work in place for loading materials onto the loading tower, nor had suitable assessment of the risks involved been made.

The investigation also revealed that the loading tower did not have sufficient guard rails and toe boards and that neither company had ensured that the tower and access scaffolding was properly inspected on a regular basis.

At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Stirling Stone Ltd was fined 200,000 for breaching health and safety legislation.

Robertson Construction Central Ltd of Perimeter Road, Elgin, Moray, was also fined 200,000.

John Shelton, HSE Inspector for Construction, said: "What happened to Mr Kelly was entirely preventable and would not have happened if the proper steps had been taken.

"Loading up operations at scaffold loading towers are repeated on construction sites across Scotland probably thousands of times a day.

"There is no excuse for the contractors not to have agreed procedures as to how this work was to be done and ensured that this routine work was carried out safely.

"Where vital edge protection is removed temporarily to allow loading up to take place, steps must be taken to ensure persons cannot fall during that work," he added.

Both companies were found guilty of health and safety breaches last month.

It was the first such matter to go to trial since the setting up of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Health and Safety Division, other matters having always previously been resolved by way of plea.

A spokesman for the main contractor said: "Robertson Construction Central Limited is extremely sorry about the death of James Kelly and accepts the sentence passed today."