Two well known contractors, JH Turkington & Sons Ltd and Ripley Developments Ltd have been fined a total of £61,000 for safety breaches over the collapse of the Law Society Building in Victoria Street, Belfast, in March 2008.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) revealed that the incident occurred due to the collapse of a temporary supporting structure known as Falsework.

It was estimated that approximately 150 tonnes of concrete, 25 tonnes of steel reinforcing bars and 4 tonnes of Falsework all came down in the collapse.

J H Turkington & Sons Ltd, with headquarters in James Park, Portadown, was the Principal Contractor. The company was fined £50,000 after pleading guilty to breaches of Article 4 (2) (a) and Article 5(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) 1978 and Regulation 23(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.

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Ripley Developments Ltd, located at Drumnakilly Road, Omagh acted as sub-contractor and was responsible for the erection of the cast in-situ concrete building. The company was fined £11,000 after pleading guilty to breaches of Article 4 (2) (a) and Article 5(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) 1978 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and Regulation 3(1)(b) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.

After the case, Ken Logan, Head of the HSENI's Construction Group said: "This incident caused injuries to six workers and could easily have resulted in a number of fatalities. The dangers of failing to manage falsework should be well known to the construction industry.

"Companies have a legal duty to ensure that falsework is properly designed and erected," he said, noting this includes ensuring that a competent Temporary Works Co-ordinator is appointed.

This process should be as set out in the British Standard BS 5975:2008 titled 'Code of practice for temporary works procedures' is strictly adhered too.

"Had this system of work been followed, this incident could have been prevented," he concluded.

(GK/BMcC)