A developer, scaffolding company, its director and a roofer have all been sentenced following the death of a worker who fell around seven metres from a roof in Staffordshire.
Stafford Crown Court heard that on December 29 2010, experienced roofer Phillip Lonergan was installing the roof on a new warehouse being built by E2 Developments on land at Cotton Lane, Fauld, Tutbury.
He was standing on the edge of the roof when he slipped and fell through a gap of more than 50cm between two scaffolding rails erected to form temporary edge protection. Mr. Lonergan, 36, of Burton-on-Trent, died in hospital the same day from head injuries.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the edge protection had been provided by Nottinghamshire-based Albion Tower and Scaffold. The company’s director, Lee Cotterill, who had no formal qualifications as a scaffolder, had overall control of the design, planning and construction of the edge protection and personally signed it off as being safe.
This protection consisted of two scaffolding guardrails running around the roof edge, which were attached to horizontal scaffolding tubes. British Standards only allow a minimum of two guardrails to be in place when the angle of the roof is 10ø or less, but the roof Mr. Lonergan was working on had a pitch of 20ø.
Roofer Peter Allum was approached by E2 to install the roof panels and offered a number of roofers the work, including Mr. Lonergan. He was supplied with the roof plans showing the 20ø angle in October 2010 but failed to deal with the risks posed by the inadequate edge protection.
The investigation also found that E2 Developments was unaware of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, which required the company to notify HSE of the work and appoint a competent scheme coordinator and principal contractor.
E2 Developments, of Hopley Road, Anslow, Burton-on-Trent, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 14(1), 14(2) and 22 of the Construction, Design and Management Regulations 2007 and was fined a total of œ66,000 with costs of œ13,200.
Peter Allum, 41, of Beamhill Road, Burton-on-Trent, admitted breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined œ1,500 with œ1,500 costs.
Lee Cotterill, 53, of Marple Drive, Aston-on-Trent, Derby, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay costs of œ4,000.
Albion Tower and Scaffold (East Midlands), of Common Lane, Watnall, Nottinghamshire, was fined œ53,000 and ordered to pay œ15,500 in costs after pleading guilty to the same offence.
HSE inspector Lindsay Hope said: “Each defendant failed to ensure Mr. Lonergan and other roofers could work safely. In each case their failure was a significant cause of Mr Lonergan’s death.
“The temporary edge protection should have had a third guardrail to reduce the space for a person to slide through. It should also have had netting around the edge, or toe boards. No such safety measures were in place. The edge protection was therefore inadequate to reduce the risk of serious harm – something that should have been obvious to both Albion and its director Lee Cotterill.
“E2 was provided with architects’ plans showing the roof was at a 20ø pitch but failed to plan, manage or monitor the work in order to eliminate the risk of a fall. One of the directors had never heard of the regulations the company should have been working to. It was therefore very difficult for the company to discharge its du
