Repair and maintenance company fined after worker falls from height while repairing leaky roof
A repair and maintenance company has been fined after an employee fell from two metres while working on an unsecured ladder on a roof with no edge protection.
Barkingside Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 7 September 2016, a roofer was working with a colleague to repair a leaky roof in Seaton Avenue, Felixstowe when he slipped from his ladder, falling approximately two metres and sustaining contusion, bruising and hearing damage.
An HSE investigation found that the assessment of the work prior to the arrival of the roofers on site was inadequate. There was neither a system for checking the correct equipment for work at height was being used, nor for supervision of the work on site.
RFT Repairs Limited of King Street, Norwich pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of Work at Height Regulations 2005 and has been fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,391.76.
Discussing the case, HSE inspector Prentiss Clarke-Jones, speaking after the sentencing said: “Roof work requires a high level of planning, and supervision should be in place to ensure it is carried out safely.
“This incident so easily could have been fatal; work at height is a well-documented, well-regulated risk and there is no excuse for getting it wrong”.
