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Health and Safety Fears at Newbury
20 March 1996
Friends of the Earth is calling on the Health and Safety Executive to halt work on the Newbury Bypass following the injury of a climber working for the bailiffs, who was hit on the head by a falling tree this morning (20 March 1996) at Reddings Copse.
FOE has been alarmed at the reckless manner in which evictions of protestors and tree felling have been conducted since clearance work began in January this year. Despite the fact that numerous site visits have been made by health and safety officials, the safety of members of the public and workers on site continue to be the subject of various complaints from members of the public and FOE.
The climber was injured when a tree was toppled by a digger onto the special 200 foot hydraulic lift (cherry picker) brought in to evict protestors from the tallest tree on the route of the controversial bypass. An ambulance was called to the site at Reddings Copse and the climber was carried off to hospital. He had been struck on the back of the head, but his condition was said to be stable.
Tony Juniper, Deputy Campaigns Director of Friends of the Earth said:"Today's incident was an accident waiting to happen. We're just glad the climber does not appear to be seriously hurt. Health and safety officials have been indicating that the work-site is safe. This incident shows that they were wrong and that work on the bypass should be stopped until proper procedures are introduced."
The incident also resulted in damage to the cherry picker used to pluck protesters from trees. It was removed from the site and attempts to evict protesters from the massive pine at Reddings Copse were abandoned for the day.
ENDS
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Sep 2008
