GLA property arm fined £250k after wall collapses on man in front of wife and children

The land and property arm of the Greater London Authority has been fined £250,000 after an advertising hoarding collapsed onto a man in front of his wife and two children.

On 25 January 2014 the family were hurrying along a pavement to Catford Station to shelter from a storm when a wall and hoarding was blown onto the father, causing him to lose consciousness and end up hospitalised.

The man, 45, suffered facial and skull injuries including a fractured eye socket and had to have a titanium plate inserted into his left cheek area.

The whole family including the children, four and nine at the time, remain affected by the incident, the Health and Safety Execitive (HSE) said.

An investigation by the watchdog found that GLA Land Property LTD (GLAP) employed a company to manage and maintain this site.

The investigation found that GLAP failed to oversee the contract properly, resulting in the wall not being maintained.

“The wall developed a crack which weakened, causing the hoarding to act like a sail in strong winds, eventually leading to its collapse,” the HSE said.

At Southwark Crown Court GLA Land and Property pleaded guilty under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

It was fined a total of £250,000 and ordered to pay £ £14,653 in costs.

HSE inspector Ian Shearring said: “A set of simple arrangements to inspect and maintain the wall would have picked up on the imminent danger to any passer-by. Instead, a whole family was traumatised by seeing the father sustaining serious injuries from being struck by hoarding as it collapsed. It was only a matter of luck that no one was killed on the day outside a busy station.”

A spokesperson for the Greater London Authority, said: “We offer our sincere apologies to Mr Teader and deeply regret the injuries sustained. We take all health and safety incidents extremely seriously and continue to ensure that our high standards of safety are maintained so that an incident like this does not happen again.”

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