HSE issues safety alert

Following the collapse of a major scaffold structure in Milton Keynes, UK, which resulted in the death of one worker, serious injuries to two others and minor injuries to a number of workers, the UK's Health & Safety Executive has issued a safety alert to the construction industry.

The collapse involved the catastrophic failure of one end of the 14-storey structure that was being used during the construction of a new Jurys Inn Hotel. It is understood that high winds may have been a factor.

The alert is intended to draw attention to the importance of arrangements intended to provide safe and stable scaffold structures, including among others factors such as scaffolding design, the tieing in of structures to buildings, and the intended and actual loadings on scaffolds, including those resulting from winds.

A thorough investigation is currently ongoing into the cause/causes of the collapse that will highlight any lessons that need to be drawn from the accident.