Scaffolding firm fined £4,000 after pole hits passer-by

A scaffolding firm has been fined after a pole fell and gashed the leg of a pedestrian in May last year.

Sky Scaffolding (Midlands), of Warwick, was fined a total of £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,761 at Coventry magistrates' court yesterday after pleading guilty to breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

The scaffolding had been erected in Coventry city centre on a pavement that had not been closed or restricted, allowing pedestrians to pass by it.

Two qualified scaffolders were working 5m above ground when one momentarily leaned a short pole against a guardrail. As he turned away, the steel pole, which weighed several pounds, fell onto a passing member of the public. The victim sustained a significant gash to her leg, which required hospital treatment.

One workman had been tasked with asking pedestrians to wait during the movement of materials but he failed to see this particular person.

The company was charged with not taking suitable and sufficient steps to prevent any person being struck by any falling material or object liable to cause personal injury.

“The work being undertaken that morning, on the pavement, placed pedestrians and workers at risk because the company had failed to take more-robust steps to ensure that the system of work was effective to protect the public from simple huma