Roofing companies urged to put safety first
Roofing company prosecuted after a man fell through a roof - 28th July 2009
Greater Manchester roofing companies need to make
safety their top priority following an incident in
which a man
fell from height through the roof of a
Swindon factory.
The man was working for Tower Roofing Ltd cleaning
guttering at Magnesium Elektron Ltd's Rake Lane
premises on the 6th March 2008 when he suffered the
workplace accident, the roof on which he was working
gave way resulting in the man having a
fall from
height of 2 metres on to a stack of pallets, off
which he then bounced falling another 2 metres to
the concrete floor.
Had the pallets not blocked the man's
fall from
height the consequences would almost surely have
resulted in serious injury or even death claimed a
Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) Inspector.
His employer Tower Roofing pleaded guilty to
breaching section 6(3) of the Work at Height
Regulations 2005 at Trafford Magistrates Court,
which states: “Where work is carried out at height,
every employer shall take suitable and sufficient
measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably
practicable, any person falling a distance liable to
cause personal injury”, they were fined £3,500 and
ordered to pay costs of £5,976.
Further information on working safely at height can
be found on the HSE's website at
www.hse.gov.uk/falls/roof.htm.
