A health and safety expert has told a jury he would have expected a drinks firm to supervise scaffolding used for work at its Herefordshire factory.


Universal Beverages Limited, as the principal contractor, should have been responsible for monitoring and supervision even though they had hired a competent specialist firm, Andrew Kingscote, an expert inspector with the Health and Safety Executive, told Worcester Crown Court.
 

"It's not necessary to have advance scaffolder training to do this," he said. "It is fairly obvious if a board or a rail is missing."
 

He told the jury UBL should have ensured that all the safety checks were carried out regularly by a scaffolder with the proper training.
 

The Ledbury cider-making firm, owned by Heineken, denies exposing non-employees to risks to their safety, and with failing to ensure scaffolding was not used unless it had been checked by a competent person within seven days beforehand.
 

Inspections for the scaffolding around five new fermentation tanks between July 24 and October 1 2009 had often fallen outside the seven-day limit, in one case reaching a month between signatures on the form recording safety inspections, prosecutor Adam Farrer has told the court.
 

The jury has been told there were faults including missing toe-boards, loose boards lying around, and "excessive gaps" between the scaffolding and the tanks the workers were cladding.
 

UBL hired a scaffolding firm, Central Roofing, who had worked previously for Heineken and on other large projects.
 

The firm say they had been relying on the "expertise and professionalism" of the scaffolding company.

Peter Smith, defending, said that UBL were not responsible under safety regulations for supervising and controlling every aspect of the work on its site.
 

The prosecution is being brought by the Health and Safety Executive. Mr Smith told the court UBL would not be calling any evidence.
 

The trial continues.