TEESSIDE SCAFFOLDER
Well-known member
Lincolnshire bricklayer died falling off 'botched' platform
.Friday, December 23, 2011 Boston Target
.A BRICKLAYER died after falling from scaffolding while working on a building site.
Justin Gillman, from Holland Fen, died on February 26 last year at The Chase, a Chestnut Homes site in Skegness.
An inquest heard that Mr Gillman, 26, was walking backwards along a scaffolding platform pulling a sack barrow loaded with bricks when he fell to his death.
A post mortem examination found he died from multiple internal injuries.
Photographs taken following his fall showed the scaffolding stop ends, designed to prevent anyone falling off, had been raised to the upward position.
Mr Gillman's colleague, Philip Hampstead, told the inquest the pair had spent the morning placing piles of bricks ready for use around the sides of plots 36 to 38.
He had left Mr Gillman on the scaffolding to finish off while he went back to ground level to adjust some floor props.
He said: "I went into 36 to tighten the first one and as I came out I noticed a blue flash in the corner of my eye. I looked round and saw Justin on the floor. He had bricks on him."
The inquest at Skegness Magistrates Court, was told that in the days leading up to the fall, Mr Hampstead and Mr Gillman had told site manager Peter Tute they were ready for scaffolding to be put up on the east side of plots 36-38.
Mr Tute had asked them if they could do it themselves and they agreed despite never having built scaffolding at the site before.
The platform they constructed was higher than that constructed by professional scaffolder Michael Barker, who had a fixed price contract to provide scaffolding at the site.
The new construction also had no hand rails, the stop ends had not been moved from the existing scaffolding and there was a gap of around 14 inches between the two platforms. Mr Barker described their work as "a botch job".
On the morning of Mr Gillman's death, Mr Tute had carried out his weekly inspection of the scaffolding on site and noted the stop ends were correctly in place.
Despite this he did not include the new platform in his inspection report as he believed it had been constructed as a crash deck and not as a working platform.
However, in the days prior to his fall Mr Gillman, together with Mr Hampstead, had used the platform to build around 11 courses of brickwork.
The inquest heard that Chestnut Homes policies state: "Scaffolding should only be erected or altered by persons who are able to prove their competency."
A report by health and safety inspector, Martin Giles, read at the hearing said: "Having loaded out at the rear of the scaffold Justin transported a further 176 kilos of bricks.
"In negotiating the ramp and scaffold he fell off the end, a distance of 1.8 metres. The area was unrailed and unprotected by other safety measures."
The jury returned a narrative verdict into Mr Gillman's death.
In a statement to the Target, his family said: "We are disappointed that there was not enough evidence put before the coroner's court to result in an unlawful killing or gross negligence verdict.
"We remain hopeful and confident that the Health and Safety Executive will now be able to complete their investigation and take steps to consider prosecution of those parties responsible."
.Friday, December 23, 2011 Boston Target
.A BRICKLAYER died after falling from scaffolding while working on a building site.
Justin Gillman, from Holland Fen, died on February 26 last year at The Chase, a Chestnut Homes site in Skegness.
An inquest heard that Mr Gillman, 26, was walking backwards along a scaffolding platform pulling a sack barrow loaded with bricks when he fell to his death.
A post mortem examination found he died from multiple internal injuries.
Photographs taken following his fall showed the scaffolding stop ends, designed to prevent anyone falling off, had been raised to the upward position.
Mr Gillman's colleague, Philip Hampstead, told the inquest the pair had spent the morning placing piles of bricks ready for use around the sides of plots 36 to 38.
He had left Mr Gillman on the scaffolding to finish off while he went back to ground level to adjust some floor props.
He said: "I went into 36 to tighten the first one and as I came out I noticed a blue flash in the corner of my eye. I looked round and saw Justin on the floor. He had bricks on him."
The inquest at Skegness Magistrates Court, was told that in the days leading up to the fall, Mr Hampstead and Mr Gillman had told site manager Peter Tute they were ready for scaffolding to be put up on the east side of plots 36-38.
Mr Tute had asked them if they could do it themselves and they agreed despite never having built scaffolding at the site before.
The platform they constructed was higher than that constructed by professional scaffolder Michael Barker, who had a fixed price contract to provide scaffolding at the site.
The new construction also had no hand rails, the stop ends had not been moved from the existing scaffolding and there was a gap of around 14 inches between the two platforms. Mr Barker described their work as "a botch job".
On the morning of Mr Gillman's death, Mr Tute had carried out his weekly inspection of the scaffolding on site and noted the stop ends were correctly in place.
Despite this he did not include the new platform in his inspection report as he believed it had been constructed as a crash deck and not as a working platform.
However, in the days prior to his fall Mr Gillman, together with Mr Hampstead, had used the platform to build around 11 courses of brickwork.
The inquest heard that Chestnut Homes policies state: "Scaffolding should only be erected or altered by persons who are able to prove their competency."
A report by health and safety inspector, Martin Giles, read at the hearing said: "Having loaded out at the rear of the scaffold Justin transported a further 176 kilos of bricks.
"In negotiating the ramp and scaffold he fell off the end, a distance of 1.8 metres. The area was unrailed and unprotected by other safety measures."
The jury returned a narrative verdict into Mr Gillman's death.
In a statement to the Target, his family said: "We are disappointed that there was not enough evidence put before the coroner's court to result in an unlawful killing or gross negligence verdict.
"We remain hopeful and confident that the Health and Safety Executive will now be able to complete their investigation and take steps to consider prosecution of those parties responsible."
