Son kills father due to lack of health & safety on demolition site

We've reported many times before how a lack of health and safety as well as planning lead to injury or even death. But this latest example is made all the worse because it was the actions of a son which lead to the death of his father.

Jamie Ford and his father Stephen Ford had been contracted by Alaister Copland who owns Do It Al. The job was to demolish a barn in Blandford. During the demolition of a wall with a handtool, Jamie dislodged a section which then fell and hit his father on the head. Stephen died at the scene.

The HSE investigated and found there was no plan of work and no safety equipment used--that included neither man wearing hard hats, which could have potentially saved Stephen's life.

Helena Tinton, HSE Inspector, commented:

"This is a tragic case which clearly demonstrates the dangers of carrying out demolition work without suitable planning. There were multiple failings with this project. In addition to having no written plan for the demolition work, there was inadequate supervision and no-one on site wore head protection. This demolition work should have been carried out remotely using machinery with clearly marked exclusion zones in place."

Alaister Copland has now been prosecuted and fined £10,000 as well as having to pay the family a further £2,390.

Source: The Construction Index