A builder who put workers' lives at risk on scaffold which was at risk of collapse has been sentenced. 

David Beadle, 63, trading as Beadle the Builders, allowed workers on a potentially dangerous structure whilst working on a house on Woodyates Road, Lee. 

At Bexley Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday (August 7) he was given a 26-week sentence suspended for one year after he admitted health and safety breaches. 

He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and to pay £6,043 costs. 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said they issued a prohibition notice in relation to the unsafe working at height site but Beadle breached the notice. 

A HSE investigation found the scaffold was not properly constructed and Beadle had failed to ensure that suitable measures were in place to prevent workers falling a distance that would have caused personal injury. 

Additionally, there was no edge protection to the side of the roof, the flat dormer roof, the front elevation of the roof, and safe access was not provided. 

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Beadle, of Rochester Way, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulation 2005 and 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.   

HSE Inspector Emma Bitz said “We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those who fail to do all that they can to keep workers safe. 

“The risks from working at height are well known, as are the control measures required to reduce those risks. 

“Falls from height remain the largest cause of workplace deaths in the construction industry.”