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16
Oct
Floor collapse triggers health and safety inspection at Harrogate building site
A Harrogate resident is demanding answers from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the floor of a house under construction collapsed – 10 days after they warned of safety breaches at the site.
Last month, the resident, who spoke to the Stray Ferret on the condition of anonymity, used the HSE’s online form to alert the body to safety concerns at a construction site on a narrow private lane behind Bachelor Gardens, in Bilton.
They specifically mentioned “large concrete bricks poised on the back wall, which is highly dangerous”.
The following week, a temporary floor overloaded with breezeblocks and wooden joists collapsed under the weight. In footage captured on a neighbour’s security camera, a contractor can be seen hastily moving to another part of the floor, before it collapses and building materials crash to the ground.
Despite none of the workers wearing hardhats – contrary to the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992 – fortunately no one was injured in the incident.
The security camera also provided a possible reason for the floor collapse. In footage recorded the following morning, a man working at the site can be heard telling a delivery driver that a prop had been removed.
'Priority inspection' ordered
The Stray Ferret asked the HSE about the incident. A spokesperson told us that under the terms of its service level agreement, the HSE aims to deal with issues raised by the public within 15 working days – longer than the 10-day gap between the resident contacting the body and the incident at the site occurring.
The spokesperson added:
I can confirm that this concern [has] been triaged and sent to our inspections team for a priority inspection.
The property development, which consists of a workshop conversion and build, was first refused by Harrogate Borough Council in 2022, after seven residents objected. The new home was deemed to be too close to the rear windows of a neighbouring bungalow.
A revised application was approved in 2023, in the teeth of opposition from neighbouring residents.
We also approached the owner of the site, York-based Matteo Focarelli, who bought the site with planning consent already in place.
He said:
I’ve not heard anything about this [i.e. the floor collapse]. The job is sub-contracted to a bricklayer, and I don’t know why he’s not mentioned it, because I know him. Maybe it was just a one-off incident and nobody was hurt, so he’s just sorted it out himself.
Sabotage?
He declined to name the sub-contractor, saying he preferred to let the HSE do its job first. He also suggested foul play could be a factor:
The reason I bought the land was that I really liked the design of the house. It was never going to be a big profit job, just a nice thing to be proud of.
Unfortunately, some of the local residents have been against it, so they’ve been causing all kinds of problems. I’ve even had strange phone calls in the middle of the night. It’s been awful.
I wouldn’t be surprised if someone’s sabotaged it.
'Bloody nightmare'
He said he was looking forward to the job being completed so he could get it off his hands. He added:
I never had any intention to upset anyone. It’s a beautiful design of a house, but it’s been a bloody nightmare of a job.
The house got approved by the council, so I didn’t know there was any problem. If I’d known before I started how much trouble this job would cause, I never would have taken it on.
The Stray Ferret will report on the HSE’s findings as soon as they are made available.
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