8:11am Tuesday 13th November 2007
By Gavin Engelbrecht
A SELF-EMPLOYED painter and decorator died after he fell up to 15ft when an unsecured scaffold tower tipped over, an inquest heard.
Philip John Platt had climbed a ladder, placed on the scaffold platform, to unscrew a sign from the side of a building.
The weight of the 59-year-old on the ladder forced the top of the scaffold away from the wall, causing the tower to overbalance, health and safety officials concluded.
Mr Platt of Galgate, Barnard Castle, suffered head injuries and multiple rib fractures in the accident in Victoria Road, Darlington. He died in hospital next day.
It is understood he had been working for his son-in-law, who had rented an office in the building.
Ann Parker, who runs Darlington Learning Zone, on the first floor, said she arrived at the rear of her office at 9.45am on Saturday, January 6, and saw Mr Platt working on top of the scaffolding. He appeared to be unscrewing a sign.
Shortly afterwards, she heard that Mr Platt had fallen, but did not see what had happened.
Victoria Wise, of the Health and Safety Executive, said she found the tower lying on the ground along with four wooden boards, which had formed the platform, and two sections of ladder.
There were also two vertical parallel lines on the wall, made as the ladder slid down against it.
Ms Wise said: "The probable sequence of events is that on the morning, Mr Platt erected a steel tower scaffold below the sign.
"It would appear wooden boards were placed on the scaffold to create a platform. The tower scaffolding was not secured in the upright position.
"One of the sections of the extended ladder was used to gain access to the scaffold and the other was placed on the scaffold against the side of the building to reach the sign."
Asked by Coroner Brenda Davidson about the dangers of not securing the scaffolding, Ms Wise said it would become unstable if weight was applied on top of it or it was used as a support for a ladder.
She said Mr Platt fell about 15ft.
A jury sitting at the inquest, in Chester-le-Street, returned a verdict of accidental death.
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