Collapse of silo killed worker
August 28, 2007
Demolition companies have been warned by the HSE of the importance of finding out as much as possible about the buildings or structures that they are about to demolish, following a case in which the collapse of a silo killed a worker.
Mr Gideon Irvine, aged 44 of Falkirk, died on 22 August 2004 when a large section of the former Caledonia Mill, which was being demolished at the time, fell onto him without warning as he was operating an excavator on the site.
HSE Inspector Murray Provan made several key points concerning the case, following its conclusion in the courts, including the following.
- The demolition company had not carried out a survey of Caledonia Mill as they had been contracted to do, and as health and safety legislation and the British Standard for demolition strongly suggests should be done, in order to identify structural hazards to prevent premature collapse.
- The company relied entirely on drawings prepared around 1989 but made no effort to search archives or pursue other reasonable lines of enquiry to find out as much as it could about the large silo building at Caledonia Mill.
- The building itself was actually two separate structures, built at different times, but, superficially, similar in appearance.
- The company did not seek the advice of a competent structural engineer, who would have been able to spot the differences between the structures very quickly.
Central Demolition Limited of Bonnyside Road, Bonnybridge was fined £50,000 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court having pled guilty to a breach of s.2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 which covers the duty of the employer to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all the employees.
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