Construction News

Wed April 24 2024

Related Information

Builders fined £20k for roofing dangers

7 Oct 19 A small building firm has been fined £20,000 after a roof worker fell more than three metres through an unprotected skylight opening.

The site in Kenilworth
The site in Kenilworth

Coventry Magistrates’ Court heard that on 6th June 2018 a self-employed person working for Hamblett Building Services Limited at a site off Waverley Road in Kenilworth was injured when he fell through an unprotected skylight opening while attaching lathes to a roof in preparation for tiling. He sustained multiple fractures.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that skylight openings on this and other roofs on site had no collective or personal edge protection and that there was no scaffold or edge protection on the roof shared with neighbouring properties. Where there was scaffold on site, there were unprotected openings on working platforms, increasing the risk of falls from the scaffold.

Hamblett Building Services Limited of Warwick Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,078.

HSE inspector Tony Mitchell said after the case: “The risks associated from falls from height whilst working on a roof are widely known throughout the building industry. Failing to protect workers from this risk is inexcusable. Simple safety measures could have prevented this incident and the injuries to the worker.”

Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk

MPU
MPU

Click here to view latest construction news »