On 23 February 2010 a Bradford property developer was fined £10,000 for serious safety failings that endangered the lives of workers on a refurbishment project in Hull. The company was also ordered to pay £10,000 costs.

HQ Leisure Limited, of, Bradford, pleaded guilty to six charges, one breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, two breaches of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and three breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

HSE inspectors found a number of safety problems that could have caused a serious injury or fatality at a site on Albion Street, Hull, in October 2007, where a row of four-storey terrace buildings was being converted into 28 apartments.

The problems included:
*   Rear scaffolding had not been properly inspected, and was found to be dangerously unstable because of missing structural supports
*   Roofing materials were being thrown from a 15 metre high platform at the roof eaves - into an area where other contractors were working below
*   Unsuitable ladders were being used to access upper floors
*   Insufficient and unsecured boards were being used in the roof space leaving workers at risk of falling through the ceiling joists.
*   Voids created by the demolition of a rear extension had not been guarded to prevent falls out of the building
*   No toilet had been provided for the workers and washing facilities were inadequate

CDM2007.org comments:

There is simply no excuse at all for the list of problems heard in this case ... the whole procurement team from the inception of the project to the operations on site MUST be competent to undertake the works.   The law is clear on the principle that proper proof of competency to an adequate level appropriate to the degree of risk in the works is absolutely essential ~ there can be no exception to this.

The CDM 2007 regulations sets out the criteria for competence in Appendix 4 of the Approved Code of Practice [HSE publication L144] and, since the 6th April 2008 proof of competency must be provided ...

CDM2007.org modular training and its unique governance system provides the essential tools to prove competence in CDM activities ...

Ed.