A demolition contractor has been fined £134,000 after two men fell 7m at a derelict nightclub, suffering serious injuries.
Features
Demolition firm fined after worker cracks skull and second man breaks back in fall
By
on 01 February 2019
Cheshire Demolition and Excavation Contractors Limited was demolishing the derelict nightclub in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, when the incident happened on 15 November 2016.
Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard how the two workers had climbed into a pick bin, lifted by an excavator arm. When it suddenly released, both men were ejected from the bin and fell onto a pile of bricks and rubble. One worker suffered a fractured skull, and a second worker sustained a broken back.
The company, of Moss Lane, Macclesfield, was fined with £6,303.04 for breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was ordered to pay £6,303.04 costs.
HSE found in its investigation that Cheshire Demolition and Excavation Contractors Limited did not properly plan the work and failed to provide suitable access equipment.
The company had provided a scissor lift on site, but decided to remove it from the site prior to the incident. The operatives had no other means of accessing areas at height.
Investigating HSE inspector David Argument said: “These risks could so easily have been avoided if the work at height was properly planned and appropriately supervised. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards”.
FEATURES
Gas detection – the power of smart safety systems
By Megan Hine, Dräger Safety on 29 June 2026
Gas detectors are a crucial tool for ensuring the safety of hazardous plants and processes, and developments in smart and connected technology now mean the equipment can more efficiently and quickly raise the alarm in the event of elevated gas levels or leaks, allowing immediate action to be taken to protect life and equipment.
AI won’t fix a broken safety culture, but it can scale a strong one
By Tom Goodmanson, EcoOnline on 25 June 2026
AI technology can make it quicker and easier to spot and analyse occupational safety hazards, trends and opportunities, but it is likely to generate incomplete, unreliable or inaccurate conclusions and recommendations unless an organisation already has good safety systems, reporting procedures and culture in place to generate the required high-quality data for automated analysis.
From tinkering to trust: how safety leaders can adopt AI responsibly
By Greta Salvesen, Notify Technology on 25 June 2026
AI has huge potential to improve health and safety at work, but employers will need to retain oversight to ensure it genuinely supports better decision-making, rather than creating new risks through unmanaged use.