Worker Suffers ‘Life-Changing’ Injuries During Steel Frame Dismantling

An event structure company and its director have been fined after an employee suffered severe, life-changing injuries while dismantling an internal steel frame.

iSkate Limited employee, Natalie McCreith, 38, a former outdoor sports instructor, had worked for the company for 14 years when she was seriously injured while working at Beaverbrook Hotel & Golf Course Leatherhead, Surrey, on 26 June 2024.

Natalie underwent an 11-hour operation, spent three months in hospital, and is still recovering following the incident.

Dangerous Dismantling

During the dismantling of a steel beam temporary structure, a ratchet strap was being used to lower a steel beam weighing over 100kg. The ratchet strap was not designed for lifting or lowering loads and failed, causing the beam to fall onto Natalie. She sustained multiple fractures to her back, a punctured lung, and a broken leg.

Neil Munn, Director of iSkate Limited, was on site at the time and made the decision to use the ratchet strap, instructing workers where to stand. He continued with the method even after Natalie raised concerns about whether it was safe.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that iSkate Limited had failed to ensure that the dismantling of the internal steel frame was properly planned and carried out safely.

HSE provides guidance on structural stability during alteration, demolition and dismantling which states that demolition or dismantling arrangements should be written down before the work begins. This safe system of work may be in the form of a safety method statement identifying the sequence required to prevent accidental collapse of the structure.

In a victim personal statement, Natalie McCreith said: “Since the accident, my life has been completely turned upside down it’s now the polar opposite of what it once was.

“I will never live the life I once had or be in a body that isn’t screaming at me all day, I wish I could turn back time.

“My family spent the journey from Liverpool to London thinking I was dead, they have had to watch someone they love go through agonising pain and continue to do so.

“I am not the person I once was, I can’t be everything I once was and for them this journey also continues.”

Company and Director Fined

iSkate Limited, of Norfolk House, Station Road, St Ives, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 16(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, by virtue of Regulation 20(1).

The company was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £6,949 in costs at a hearing at Guildford Magistrates’ Court on 28 July 2026.

Neil Munn pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, by virtue of Regulation 16(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and Regulation 20(1).

He received a community order with 75 hours of unpaid work to be completed.

High-Hazard Work

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Russell Beckett said: “Demolition and dismantling is a high-hazard work activity, but if the work is properly planned it can be carried out safely.

“This accident has had a devastating effect on Ms McCreith and could easily have been prevented had the right work equipment been used.”

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