Estate agent office gets a redesign with a girder

The public liability insurance of a steel company is under scrutiny after an 80 kilogram girder crashed through the roof of an estate agent which narrowly missed two female workers.

Pocklington Steel Structures Ltd has been victim of a severe investigation by the health and safety executive (HSE) after a four-metre-long steel beam fell 25 metres from a crane and smashed through the roof and three floors of Garside Waddingham estate agents.

The girder was one of 18 steel beams to be lifted by a crane, at a 45-degree angle that morning on a construction site for a new hotel. The investigation found that nothing was in place to stop the girders slipping through the chains wrapped around them.

The HSE investigation concluded that the beams should have been lifted when level and not at an angle, and shackles with holes drilled through them should have been attached to the chains.

At Preston Magistrates Court, Pocklington Steel Structures Ltd admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by putting the lives of workers and the public at risk. It was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £6,706 in costs.

Anthony Polec, the investigating inspector at HSE, said:

“It must have been terrifying for the staff on duty in the estate agents that day when they suddenly heard and then saw a steel girder crashing down next to their desks, right where the public normally stand.”

“For such a high lift, near to people on the ground, it is simply not good enough to wrap chains around girders, in a so-called choke hitch, without securing them.”

“Two office workers had a lucky escape but several people could easily have been killed. Its vital construction companies make sure they use cranes safely to prevent similar incidents happening again.”