Add Prop Limited, a London construction company, and its sole director Atif Riaz have been fined after a mobile scaffold tower collapsed onto two members of the public on Putney High Street in southwest London on July 19, 2023. The incident resulted in serious injuries to both pedestrians.
HSE Investigation Reveals Multiple Failings
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the tower, assembled by operatives working for Add Prop Limited, was incorrectly constructed and covered in sheeting. The sheeting acted as a sail in windy conditions, causing the tower to topple and trap two people.
Add Prop Limited was the principal contractor on a project to convert a commercial building into residential flats. Atif Riaz was serving as both project manager and site supervisor on the day of the incident.
The HSE identified multiple safety failures, including a failure to ensure the temporary structure was designed, installed, and maintained to withstand foreseeable loads, including wind. The company had previously been served with a Prohibition Notice for unsafe work involving a tower scaffold at another site.
Court Penalties
Following a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Add Prop Limited was found guilty of breaching Regulation 19(2)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,000 in costs. Atif Riaz was fined £1,730 and ordered to pay £1,730 in costs.
HSE Inspector Daniel Burton said: “The public have a right to expect scaffolding they pass by is safe and has been properly installed – yet every year people are injured when scaffold towers overturn. In this case, two members of the public suffered serious injuries when a scaffold tower overturned on a busy high street. The risks associated with scaffold towers and wind loading are well known within the construction industry – this kind of incident simply should not happen.”
Burton added: “The fines imposed on Add Prop Limited and Atif Riaz should underline to everyone in the construction industry that the courts, and HSE, take failures to follow health and safety requirements extremely seriously. HSE will not hesitate to take action against companies and, where appropriate, directors who fail to do all that they should to keep workers and members of the public safe.”
