A roofing company from Worcester has been fined after an employee fell through a skylight.
Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court heard how an employee of AES (Roofing Contractors) Limited fell through a skylight whilst replacing them within a fragile roof. The worker suffered a badly broken wrist.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 24 April 2015 found that the company failed to implement effective control measures, and the work was not carried out safely.
AES (Roofing Contractors) Limited, of Lingens Bungalow, Sledgemoor, Broadwas, Worcester, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and was fined £66,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,825.
HSE inspector Edward Fryer said after the hearing: “The HSE investigation found that the Company fell far below the expected standard. Edge protection was not installed at the perimeter of the roof and should have been. The arrangements for preventing falls through the fragile roof relied solely on inadequately specified personal fall protection equipment. If collective protection, such as nets and guardrails, had been provided the risk of a fall would have been greatly reduced for all the employees working on the roof.”
