A roofer has been given a 14-month custodial sentence after a worker fell 16ft onto concrete when working on a pitched roof and died a week later.
Patrick McCarthy (trading as All Care Home Improvements) was given the custodial sentence after the death of Mr Andrei-Ionel Hutanu in 2019.
Harrow Crown Court heard how on 19 August 2019 Mr Hutanu was carrying out repair work on a tiled pitched roof from a roofing ladder – as no scaffolding or other measures had been put in place to prevent falls from the roof – and fell 16ft onto the concrete alleyway below, fracturing his neck and sustaining other serious head injuries. He had to be recovered by air ambulance to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington but sadly died a week later of his injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident found that Patrick McCarthy had failed to take any steps to prevent falls from height by failing to install scaffolding around the perimeter of the building or where Mr Hutanu was working.
Patrick McCarthy pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and received a 14-month custodial sentence at a hearing on 4 April 2023.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Philip Jordan said: “This tragic incident could have been easily avoided. Assessing and planning work at height is essential to ensuring that suitable and sufficient measures are in place to prevent falls from height.
“The custodial sentence imposed on Mr McCarthy should underline to everyone in the construction industry that the courts, and HSE, take a failure to follow the regulations extremely seriously. HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against individuals or companies that fall below the required standards.”
