A lift company has been told that it must pay £100,000 in fines and costs after petrified tourists suffered broken legs and ankles when a vital mechanism failed on a Tower Bridge lift, causing it to fall into a service pit.
The incident at the popular London landmark happened in May 2009 and left four people with bone fractures and a further six needing treatment for shock.
The tourists were travelling in a lift car ascending to the Tower Bridge Exhibition when it unexpectedly fell down the shaft from approximately three metres.
Temple Lifts Ltd, the firm responsible for maintaining and servicing the lift was sentenced last week (6th March) after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a complex technical investigation into the incident.
Southwark Crown Court heard how there ten people in the lift when it fell, with an elderly couple and young family amongst its passengers.
The car stopped in a pit beneath the ground floor lift entrance when a counterweight mechanism failed.
The HSE’s investigation found that there had been several historic failures regarding the components in the counterweight mechanism on two of the lifts at the attraction before the catastrophic failure. These components had however simply been replaced with no proper investigation and review. The HSE determined that the incident could have been avoided had there been a more in-depth analysis of the lifts.
Temple Lifts Ltd was fined £50,000 for the incident and ordered to pay £50,000 in costs after it pleaded guilty to two charges covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
HSE Inspector Michael La Rose said after the sentencing: “This was a truly disturbing incident that affected a number of people and that could have resulted in even greater injuries.
“Temple Lifts could and should have done more to ensure the lift was properly maintained, and there were clear failings in this regard.”