The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Lane Roofing Contractors failed to properly plan and appropriately supervise work to ensure that risks created by working at height on a roof was carried out safely.
Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard that on June 21, 2017, a man was working on the roof at Lok N Store facility in Basingstoke with two other roofers as part of a ten-week long roof replacement project.
The man fell 6.7m from the open edge of the roof to the concrete floor below and sustained multiple fractures.
Lane Roofing Contractors of Walsall Road, Birmingham pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 (1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,164.80.
The old asbestos cement sheet roof was being removed and replaced with trisomet sheeting. The man who fell and a colleague were working up on the roof, whilst another was working within the building to remove bolts from the underside of the old roof.
Sharron Cripps, an inspector at the HSE, said: “Falls from height remain the most common cause of work-related fatalities and serious injuries in the construction industry and the risks associated with working at height are well-known.
“Working at height, with large open edges can be particularly dangerous, and it is important that those in control of the work identify the risks posed by replacing roofs and then take appropriate control measures to safeguard workers and others, to ensure that the risks are being managed.”
