Two companies have been fined a total of £240,000 after two workers fell 27 meters as a result of a faulty cot.
Marcel Botnaru and Radu Baracu were working on the cradle of the ninth level of a residential tower block in Pennington Street, Wapping, east London.
According to a statement from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the cot’s support beams had been fitted with the wrong size stops, causing the cot to tip over and crash into land
An HSE investigation found that Zarafa Height Solutions failed to ensure that the support beams it manufactured were safe to use when they left their factory in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
A second company, Giraffe Access Company, which installed the cradle and support beams at the site, was not identified as defective during pre-commissioning safety checks, according to the safety inspection.
View of the fallen crib. Source: HSE
Both companies are part of the Zarafa Group and are based in Pickering, North Yorkshire. They pleaded guilty to contravening Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc. at Croydon Magistrates’ Court.
Zarafa Height Solutions Limited was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay £3,987 in costs. Giraffe Access Company Limited was also fined £120,000 and ordered to pay £3,996 in costs.
After the sentencing, HSE Inspector Kevin Smith said: “This incident could have ended in a double tragedy. Both were injured but were lucky to escape with their lives.
“The fines imposed on these two companies should emphasize to everyone in the construction industry the importance of ensuring rigorous safety checks are carried out on equipment before it is put into operation.
“We won’t hesitate to take action against companies that don’t do everything they need to do to keep people safe.”
The events took place in June 2020.
