Guilty plea following young man's death after scaffolding fell on him
Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK Ltd (trading as Lyndon SGB) pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety Act by failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees. The company will be sentenced on 30 October at Brighton court.
24-year-old Jack Phillips died after he was struck by scaffolding that fell from a crane on a building site in Eastbourne in August 2019. It is now clear that metal scaffolding pieces, known as mast climbers, fell from a crane on top of Jack. The strap holding the scaffolding sections to the crane snapped and it transpired that the safety certificate for the strap had previously expired and should not have been in use.
There was also a failure to enforce an exclusion zone to ensure no one was standing beneath the crane.
The crane driver involved pleaded not guilty and asked for a trial at crown court so will plea again on 21st August at Lewes crown court.
Jack Sales is representing the parents, Scot and Nichola Phillips, in claims on behalf of the Estate and also in a secondary victim claim for Scot who witnessed the aftermath of the incident.
Jack told the press attending the hearing: "This is a tragic example of an entirely avoidable workplace incident. Employers must take steps to protect employees and provide safe systems of work.
'Noone expects to go to work and not return home safely. The Phillips family has lost a son and a brother and almost four years later are still waiting for answers and accountability."
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