Firms fined after steeplejack fell 160 feet to his death from mill in Bolton (1 Viewer)

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Two firms have been ordered to pay more than £180,000 after a steeplejack fell 160 feet to his death.

Macclesfield-based Bailey International Steeplejack Company and Ken Brogden Ltd, from Heywood, were both reprimanded after John Alty died when he plunged from the top of Swan Lane Mills in Bolton.

Bailey International, who employed 40-year-old Mr Alty, were fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £80,000 costs. Ken Brogden, who repaired scaffolding used on the job, were fined £10,000 and £16,000 costs.

Judge Leslie Hull said that Ken Brogden did not contribute to the death of Mr Alty, a steeplejack with more than 25 years experience.

But the judge added: "It has to be borne in mind that this is a high-risk industry and the quality of the equipment can mean the difference, the very difference, between life and death."

Mr Alty, a father-of-one, died in June 2007 when a scaffolding platform he was working on gave way, sending him hurtling towards the ground.

He was not wearing a safety harness, Manchester Crown Court heard.

A second man, Steven Kelly, who was also working on the same platform, survived by clinging to a ladder that had been bolted to the side of Grade II-listed chimney.

Bailey International admitted breaching section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act. Ken Brogden pleaded guilty to breaching section 3 of the same act.

David McLacklan, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said Bailey International had failed to secure the scaffolding platform sufficiently to the chimney.

He said: "In the view of the HSE, the way the scaffolding was anchored to the chimney was inadequate which put the entire platform in serious and foreseeable risk of collapse."

He added that Ken Brogden had failed to sufficiently repair scaffolding poles used on the job, which they had failed to ask questions about, but said this was not the cause of the collapse.

Defending Bailey International, Nicholas Hinchcliffe said the firm, which employs around 30 people and has a turnover of more than £2m, had a previously unblemished safety record.

He said: "The firm it in its various guises has not anything like this happen before.

“Since the accident, they have amended the modular scaffolding frame they use and are now considered to be a world leader in this area."

Mark Savill, defending Ken Brogden, said: "Since this accident the company has ensured that a full dialogue now takes place between the firm and their customers to it is clear what is being made and what it will be used for."

Mr Alty's estranged wife, Angela Alty, said: "Things have been very difficult since John passed away. A big hole has been left in our lives. Moving on is hard and not one day passes where we don't think about him and what might have been."

Source: Manchester Evening News
 
Yes heard this story before, when it happened I heard that the second guy who survived made it to the ladder as the scaffold fell, so can you imagine If he was clipped on the scaff would have pulled him down too.
 
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