Affordable Scaffolding ordered to pay $160K after workers fall in collapse

WorkSafe said the seven workers were extremely lucky to escape serious injury. Photo / 123RF

An Auckland scaffolding company has been fined $150,000 and ordered to pay $12,000 in reparations after a poorly designed scaffold collapsed while seven people were working on it.

A WorkSafe investigation found Affordable Scaffolding failed to ensure scaffolding was designed safely and load calculations and design drawings had not been reviewed by an engineer prior to the scaffold being built.

The incident occurred in February 2017 when six workers fell into the water and another was trapped when scaffolding erected under the Panmure Bridge in Auckland collapsed.

The workers, who were completing maintenance work under the bridge, were not seriously injured.

Simon Humphries, WorkSafe's head of specialist interventions, said the incident could have had catastrophic consequences and the seven workers were extremely lucky to escape serious injury.

"This incident highlights the requirement for every scaffolding company to ensure structural design, engineering review and adherence to standards and guidance material.

"The workers on this, and every scaffold project, have a right to expect that their employers are doing everything required to keep them safe while they're at work."

Last October, WorkSafe accepted an Enforceable Undertaking from engineering and infrastructure company Opus International Consultants Limited and Topcoat Specialist Coatings Limited in relation to the scaffolding collapse.

Opus was responsible for providing consultancy services and Topcoat for restoration work.