![The scaffold tower [Photo: HSE]](/assets/news_articles/2025/09/1758782834_hse-scaffold-tower.png)
Iftikhar Mughal, 64, was working for WH Metals Limited on 22nd November 2022, installing a metal sign to the front of a computer shop in Darwen, Lancashire.
He was standing on the platform of a low-level scaffolding tower without any edge protection in place when he fell to the pavement below.
Although the height he fell from was only six feet, it was enough for him to suffer serious head injuries that resulted in him being taken to hospital by ambulance. He died from his injuries four days later.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that WH Metals Limited and its director, who was on site at the time of the incident, failed to prevent the risk of a fall from a distance liable to cause personal injury.
The preferred method of fall prevention on tower scaffolds is the fitting of suitable guardrails around the platform. If these had been in place, it is highly unlikely that the worker in this case would have died, the HSE said
WH Metals Limited of Navigation Way, Preston, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined 拢45,000. The company was also ordered to pay costs of 拢4,826.21 and a victim surcharge of 拢2,000.
Waqas Hanif, the company鈥檚 director, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was given a 26-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay costs of 拢4,846.21 and a victim surcharge of 拢154.
HSE inspector David Hobbs said: 鈥淲ork at height remains one of the leading causes of workplace injury and death. In this case, a fall of six feet was enough to cause a death, highlighting the dangers.
鈥淭his incident highlights the importance of suitable control measures, such as edge protection, to minimise the risk of serious personal injury.鈥�
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