IN Brief:
- Roots Contractors and Diacutt were fined after a worker fractured his neck and back in a platform collapse.
- HSE found failures around temporary works design, loading, supervision, and coordination.
- The case reinforces the importance of controlled temporary works management on refurbishment and specialist drilling projects.
Roots Contractors and Diacutt have been fined after a temporary platform collapsed during drilling works, leaving a worker with serious spinal injuries.
The incident occurred during a refurbishment project in the City of London. A drilling operative was working from temporary wooden platforms when the structure collapsed, causing fractures to his neck and back. He has been unable to return to construction work.
Roots Contractors, based in Ewell, Surrey, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 16(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £19,333 and ordered to pay £5,548 in costs at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Diacutt, based in Croydon, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 15(2) of the same regulations. It was fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £5,548 in costs.
The Health and Safety Executive said temporary works must be designed, installed, maintained, and used so that they can withstand foreseeable loads. Temporary structures should also be inspected by a competent person at suitable intervals.
The case centres on one of construction’s most persistent risk areas: temporary works that appear simple but carry serious consequences when design, loading, and supervision are weak. Platforms, propping, scaffolds, edge protection, excavation supports, and temporary access routes sit outside the permanent works, yet they often expose workers to immediate danger.
Refurbishment projects can increase that exposure. Existing structures may have incomplete information, restricted access, changing floor conditions, demolition interfaces, and several trades operating in confined areas. Specialist activities such as drilling and concrete cutting add localised loads, vibration, debris, and access requirements that need to be assessed before work starts.
The legal duties under CDM 2015 require contractors to plan, manage, and monitor construction work so that it is carried out safely. Temporary works cannot be treated as informal site aids assembled from available materials. They need design consideration, clear responsibility, loading assumptions, communication between contractors, and inspection records.
Recent enforcement across other site hazards has shown the same management failures in different forms. A fatal excavation case earlier this month highlighted the consequences of inadequate barriers, lighting, access, and site control. The immediate hazards were different, but both cases turned on temporary site conditions that had not been controlled properly.
For principal contractors, temporary works management is also a coordination issue. Specialist subcontractors may understand their own work activity, but they depend on safe access, suitable platforms, accurate information, and a controlled site environment. Where responsibilities are blurred, temporary works risk can fall between packages.
The financial penalties in this case are modest compared with some major corporate prosecutions, but the outcome for the worker was life-changing. A temporary platform does not need to be technically complex to cause severe injury when loading, competence, and inspection are not managed.
Safe delivery depends on competent design, suitable materials, controlled loading, inspection, supervision, and a clear understanding of how the work will actually be carried out. On refurbishment schemes, where site conditions can change quickly, temporary works management needs the same discipline as the permanent works it supports.
