A construction company and its director have been fined after a house partially collapsed in south Manchester.
The exterior wall of the property in Caxton Road, Fallowfield, collapsed while work was being carried out on it by Servotec Ltd. Pictures released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) this week showed the extent of the damage to the house.
Inspectors visited the address on September 22, 2020, and found its roof was unstable. The HSE said it had tried to investigate the cause of the building collapse but Servotec Ltd and its director, Shaun Brae, had not provided the information it had requested.
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The firm also failed to provide a temporary works design. Prohibition and improvement notices were served to Servotec Ltd over poor welfare on site and an insufficient asbestos survey.
A further structural problem was identified when inspectors returned to the property on September 25. Further prohibition and improvement notices were issued after inspectors returned to the house in February 2021 and found additional health and safety breaches.
However, the company failed to comply with the final improvement notice and an investigation found 'significant risks' at the site, including structural safety, working at height and welfare.
At Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday (March 10), Servotec Limited, of Mauldeth Road West, Chorlton, was fined £5,000 after it admitted three health and safety breaches.
Brae of Repton Avenue, Ashford, Kent, Brae was found to have failed to comply in his role as a director and was fined £1,000 after pleading guilty to a number of health and safety breaches. He was also ordered to pay £2,000 in costs.
HSE inspector Mike Lisle said: “This was a very serious incident, and it is fortunate nobody was injured as a result of the collapse or any of the subsequent failings. Where contractors demonstrate persistent poor health and safety and ignore Notices served, HSE will not hesitate to take necessary action."
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