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Lessons learned

What went wrong on demolition sites, and what would have stopped it. Free to read, and written so the next engineer does not repeat it.

Published by the Institute · reviewed

What this is

Short, plain accounts of incidents and near misses: the work, what went wrong, and the checks that would have prevented it. Each has a reference you can quote in a method statement or a toolbox talk.

Where they come from

Members of the Institute share them, and every morning the Institute writes up the demolition cases from the Health and Safety Executive’s prosecutions, linked to the original. Nothing names a company, a site or a person.

Share yours

The most useful lessons never reach the HSE: the near miss, the wall that came down early, the survey that missed something. It takes about ten minutes.

How sharing works

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Temporary works

HSE-2025-005HSE29 Sept 2025Injury

Removal of load-bearing elements without temporary support caused collapse

Category
Temporary works
Phase
Structural demolition

During structural alterations to a house, removal of load-bearing elements led to a roof collapse that destroyed the property and injured three workers. The contractor received a suspended custodial sentence and the homeowner was left with a substantial rebuild bill.

Contributing factors
  • No temporary works design
  • Removal of load-bearing structure without support
  • Inadequate competence assessment
  • Poor sequencing of works
Read the full account →

What a full entry contains

The account

The work as planned, the condition of the structure as found, and the point where the plan and the reality parted. Written by or with the engineer involved, or from the HSE’s published findings.

What to do differently

Three to five concrete things to check or do, so the lesson can go straight into a method statement, a briefing or a toolbox talk.

Share a lesson

  1. Sign in to the members’ area and open Lessons learned.
  2. Write it up in about ten minutes: what happened, and what should be done differently next time. A near miss counts.
  3. The Education Committee reviews it and edits out anything that could identify a client, a site or a person.
  4. It is published anonymously unless you ask to be named and give your consent. You can see where it is at any time.
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