§ 42. Mr. Thorneasked the Home Secretary whether he can give any information in connection with the lift accident at the Midland Bank, Poultry, E.C., on Wednesday, 14th December, when two men were badly hurt when scaffolding and steel girders 25 feet long fell; and what protection is provided for the passers-by when girders are being hoisted?
§ Sir S. HoareI understand that no girders were being hoisted, but that a steel gantry, which had been used for some building operations, was being dismantled, and that owing to some misunderstanding too many of the nuts securing part of the framework were removed, with the result that the framework fell and injured three workmen and two members of the public. The precautions required by the regulations for building operations, though primarily for the protection of the workpeople, would incidentally protect the public against such accidents as falls of cranes or girders, but there does not appear to have been any breach of the regulations in this instance.