Health and Safety Failings – Carpet firm fined after wall collapses

Carpet firm fined after wall collapses

Key Facts

• An HSE investigation was launched after a wall collapsed on an employee.
• The worker sustained a broken back, leg, pelvis and hip.
• The carpet firm were fined £16,500 plus costs of £10,000.

The Case

The HSE launched an investigation into a carpet firm after an employee was seriously injured when a wall collapsed onto him in July 2013.

The subsequent HSE investigation found that the wall had not been suitably designed to withstand the weight of dozens of carpet rolls stacked against it. Two weeks after it had been built, workers reported that the walls were leaning by several inches. Around half of the carpets were then removed, but no further action was taken.

On 29 Jul 2013, a delivery of carpet rolls was taken and stored between the walls. Workers were helping to unload empty cardboard tubes when one of the walls collapsed, pinning the worker to the floor.

He suffered a broken back, leg, pelvis and hip and needed to use a wheelchair for eight weeks. He was on crutches for a further seven months.

The case was heard at Minshull Street Crown Court in May 2015 where the carpet firm pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £16,500 plus costs of £10,000.

What the law states

Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states:

‘It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.’

What the HSE inspector had to say

After the hearing HSE inspector Ian Betley said:

‘This was an easily preventable incident which will have an impact on one of West Pennine Carpets’ employees for the rest of his life. It is unlikely Arron will ever be able to return to manual work.

The firm should have carried out detailed design calculations, or sought advice from an independent structural engineer, before allowing the work to build the new walls to go ahead.

The company should also have taken action to improve the stability of the walls when one of them started to lean, rather than temporarily removing some of the carpet rolls. If this had happened then the terrible injuries Arron suffered could have been avoided.’

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