A WORKER narrowly avoided being killed when a piece of the Transporter Bridge fell off the structure in the year before it was shut, a meeting has heard.

The shocking finding was unveiled in a whistleblowing report to Middlesbrough Council which has now been made public in full. 

The beleaguered bridge has been shut since August 2019 due to serious safety concerns. 

Worries the Grade II* listed structure was in a “dangerous state” were raised by a whistleblower last year – with concerns wheels, ropes and anchor points were “substantially out of date”.

There were also concerns cross members on the bridge were “loose” and some had even fallen into the river below.

Now a detailed report has shown bridge staff had raised concerns about detached cross-support braces in 2017.

And the stark report to the corporate audit and affairs committee stated there was “no evidence action was taken by management”. 

The report added: “In 2018, there was a “near miss” when a support fell from the structure, landing beside a member of bridge staff.  

“Although staff claimed that this was reported to management, no action was taken  and the Transporter Bridge remained open to the public.”

The GMB union has already strongly criticised Middlesbrough Council in the wake of the bridge’s troubles coming to light. 

It says its members had flagged up how the 109-year-old structure was in a “dangerous state of repair” for years – fearing a “horrific incident” had the union not spoken up. 

Serious shortcomings in training and management were also flagged up to the council’s audit team. 

A subsequent audit probe found there was “cause for considerable concern” on the back of the misgivings – with most of the allegations made by the whistleblower deemed “accurate”.

The report added: “While no evidence was found that repeated requests for maintenance or requests for the bridge to be closed were refused, it identified a mostly passive and ineffective management approach to the Transporter Bridge over the previous decade.

“It found that the lack of specifically qualified or trained bridge or structural engineering staff engaged by the council to manage the facility ultimately led to the deterioration of the structure to the extent that it presented a health and safety risk.”

Middlesbrough manages the bridge in an agreement with Stockton Council.  Officials were grilled by councillors about its troubles on Thursday (December 17).  Finance director Ian Wright said the audit probe was the most serious report the department had offered up in many years.

“The audit findings are very serious and worrying to us as a council – they make us ask serious questions of ourselves,” he added. 

A review of other council buildings and assets is to be launched to see if fundamental problems exist at other sites elsewhere in the town. 

Cllr David Branson, chairman of the council’s health and safety committee, said panellists had shared concerns about the bridge for a long time.

He called failures to carry out regular inspections of lifting equipment at the bridge “clear breaches of the law” – before criticising wider failures in the safety management system.

Cllr Branson said: “Of particular concern to us is the fact that in 2018 we had a serious near miss in which a person working there was nearly killed by a falling part of the bridge.

“Had there been a fatality there we would have been investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and would have almost certainly have been prosecuted. 

“That would have reflected very badly on the council.”

He said the health and safety committee had not been alerted to the near miss – and should have been. 

Cllr Brian Hubbard branded the bridge’s state “totally unacceptable” and criticised the lack of an audit trail. 

The member for Park End and Beckfield said: “Lives have been put at risk.

“We as a council and a panel should thank the whistleblower for having the courage to report such an issue.  “It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Cllr Teresa Higgins agreed.  The Labour member added: “He did the council a great service and also the people of Middlesbrough.”

Meanwhile, audit committee chairman Cllr Jon Rathmell was concerned councillors were not being told of decisions and policy changes. 

“I’d like to thank the whistleblower – it cannot be said enough,” he added.

“If it was not for them, we’d be in a worse position than we are now.”

More than £3m of repairs and maintenance will be required at the bridge in the next decade. 

Council leaders will meet this week to sign off a £655,000 repair bill for The Transporter and to launch a consultation on its future fate.