A Liverpool demolition firm has been fined £5,000 after poor work saw a disused cinema collapse onto a dual carriageway in Thornton Cleveleys.
Overview:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported that on 17th June 2010, part of the Orion building, an art-deco building which opened as a cinema in 1934, fell onto the A587 during rush hour.
The HSE investigation found that Gaskells Demolition Services Ltd was hired to demolish the building on Crescent West ahead of a supermarket being built on the site. During the work, part of the building and scaffolding collapsed, blocking the two northbound lanes of the dual carriageway and the entire width of Runneymede Avenue for several hours.
No one was injured in the collapse but one pedestrian suffered a near-miss and a car was also damaged.
The HSE investigation found that, although the company had taken some precautions, it had failed to set up safe arrangements for the demolition such as an exclusion zone around the building. It also failed to apply to the council for temporary road closures while the work took place.
The scaffolding put up along the front of the building was to allow workers to access it, rather than to support it.
Outcome:
The HSE prosecuted Gaskells Demolition Services Ltd of Oriel Road in Bootle. The company admitted breaching Regulation 29(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The company was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in.
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Source: Health & Safety Executive
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