A construction company from Harrow has been fined £8,000 and forced to pay costs of £14,760 after poorly secured cladding seriously injured a pensioner.
Brendan Flynn Construction Limited was carrying out carpentry work on a residential project in Crawley in 2009. They had attached specialised cladding to the property whilst they worked on it but had failed to secure it properly. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) explained that they did not use the correct nails. As a result, some pieces of cladding were blown from the building and onto the pavement.
One piece had struck a pensioner so hard on the ankle it nearly severed her foot. Another passer-by received bruising from his wrist to his shoulder whilst a number of vehicles were also reportedly hit by the cladding.
A spokesperson for the company explained that they responded immediately, making the cladding safe and eventually replaced it all. However, they admitted to contravening the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and were subsequently faced with a substantial fine. Brendan Flynn Construction Limited have apologised to those who were injured and have expressed their regret over the harm that the incident had caused.
HSE inspector Russell Beckett claimed that the error could have resulted in far more serious consequences and warned that "this case serves as a warning to other companies that HSE will not hesitate to prosecute companies who fail to follow the correct safety procedures".
