Two companies have been fined after a worker was injured falling through a roof light causing a fractured vertebra and narrowly missing machinery blades following a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The companies involved pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act by failing to ensure the safety of employees by not providing a safe system for working on a roof and were fined £4,000 with £1,694 costs and £1,500 with £1,634 costs respectively.
They were contracted to repair storm damaged roofs at premises at Dixcarte, Crowan. The work did not include the use of edge protection, appropriate crawling boards or measures to prevent falls. At the time of the accident the repair work was already completed, however an air line had been left on another roof which was made of metal profiled roofing sheets.
The worker had walked along the metal roof to collect the air line. He began to pull the air line back to the compressor. A fragile rooflight on the metal roof was weathered and appeared similar in colour to the metal sheets. He stepped on the fragile rooflight and fell through it 5 metres to the ground. He landed on some harvesting equipment inside the building. He narrowly missed landing on the blades of the equipment and sustained a fractured vertebra. He was taken to hospital and when discharged, received treatment over several weeks
HSE inspector, Barry Trudgian, said: "Despite the risks of roof work near fragile materials being well known, fatalities and serious injuries still occur. Risk assessment should always be suitable and sufficient. When applied to roofwork, a high risk activity, this is especially important. There is a wealth of free guidance available on the HSE website."
Don’t be a victim of ignorance. Keep up with H&S Legislation by enrolling in a Health & Safety Course with MET. Courses include IOSH, Working Safely, Fire & First Aid, Confined Spaces and NRSWA. Call us now or request a brochure.