Self-employed builder Grzegorz Glowacki has been given a suspended jail sentence after a three-year-old girl suffered severe injuries to the head when timber fell on her whilst being raised up the outside of a scaffold.
Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard how, the mother, who was pushing her three-year-old daughter in a buggy, was walking along Preston Street in Brighton. Scaffolding had been placed on the pavement for refurbishment work to a flat. As they passed the scaffolding, a length of timber fell onto the young girls head from approximately ten metres high. As a result of the falling timber, the three-year-old suffered life changing injuries. She is making significant progress however, she it is unknown whether she will recover fully.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the knot used to tie the rope, which lifted the timber up the outside of the scaffold was not suitable. Therefore, when using a pulley system to lift the timber, the timber slipped and fell to the ground. Furthermore, there were no precautions of an exclusion zone put in place to prevent such an incident.
Mr. Glowacki of Rugby Road, Brighton, was sentenced to six months imprisonment and suspended for 18 months. He was also required to carry out 220 hours of unpaid work and repay full costs of £5727.92, after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 8 (1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.
Health and Safety Executive Inspector Stephen Green stated after the incident, “This horrendous incident would have been the last thing on the minds of this little girl and her mum as they set off for a fun day out at the beach. The impact this incident has had on the girl and her family was easily prevented by simply stopping people from walking beneath the suspended timber whilst it was lifted. This risk should have been identified by Mr. Glowacki.
“Companies and individuals should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action when members of the public are needlessly put at risk.”
If you have any queries regarding health and safety training, risk assessments, health and safety in your workplace or safe use of contractors on-site, please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of the team on 01924 827869.
Reference:
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2019/06/04/builder-sentenced-after-timber-falls-on-three-year-old-girl/
