The accident occurred when a scaffolding ledger to which the scaffolder had attached his fall arrest anchor came loose from its attachment to the standard. The worker lost his balance, fell backwards and suffered very serious injuries from the fall.
Learning from incidents
The video from Havtil's investigation has proved to be a valuable training tool in fall protection. It illustrates how the accident occurred and sheds light on the hazards of working at height. It also provides insight into how the Norwegian authorities handle such incidents. This provides a comprehensive understanding of both accident prevention and scaffold safety follow-up.
The initiative comes in response to the significant number of Polish workers who work in scaffolding and who will benefit from watching the video in their own language.
Risk exposure
The incident at Mongstad is not the first accident or near-miss involving a fall from scaffolding in recent years. The most serious incident occurred at Oseberg B in 2009, when a scaffolding worker died from a fall of 14 metres. Subsequently, there have been several incidents where scaffolding workers have fallen and sustained minor injuries, due to scaffold ledgers coming loose.