09/09/2010 - Trust prosecuted over worker death
A charitable trust has been fined after an inexperienced builder was killed while working on a wooden classroom at a top boarding school run by the organisation.
Mark Evans, of Ludlow, Shropshire, suffocated after a 2.4-tonne roof fell in on the 40-year-old while he was demolishing the room at Moor Park School.
By chance an escape route was created by the positioning of a dumper outside the building, helping four other men survive the incident without serious injury.
The inexperienced workers had no effective plans in place to carry out the work, a Health and Safety Executive investigation found. The findings resulted in a prosecution for Moor Park Charitable Trust, which runs the £15,000-per-annum school.
The workers had removed key supports within the building's structure, which cause the roof to collapse.
HSE inspector Nic Rigby said: "This awful event and the prosecution of the school must send a very clear message to all those who commission construction or demolition work. It must be properly planned and carried out by those with the experience and competence to do so."
Moor Park School, of Moor Park, Ludlow, admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was told to pay £15,000 in costs.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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