UK construction firms fined after safety breaches

Add Prop Limited, a London‑based construction contractor, and its sole director Atif Riaz were fined after a tower scaffold they erected on Putney High Street overturned in windy conditions, seriously injuring two members of the public. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the scaffold was assembled incorrectly, lacked proper inspection, and was not secured against foreseeable wind loads. The company received a £20,000 fine and £7,000 in costs, while the director was fined £1,730.

In north Wales, Varcity Living Limited and its director David Horrocks were penalised after an 18‑year‑old apprentice joiner, Chloe Bidwell, was killed when a stack of unsecured wooden boards fell on her at a renovation site in Bangor. The HSE determined there was no safe storage system, no lone‑working policy and inadequate supervision. The company was fined £50,000 with £10,080 in costs, and the director received a 26‑week suspended prison sentence.

Both cases highlight ongoing HSE enforcement of construction‑site safety and the serious legal and financial consequences for firms that fail to protect workers and the public.