Oldbury employer fined after worker fell through roof

Date:

21 December 2009

Release No:

WM514/09

An Oldbury man has been fined £3,500 after one of his workers fell 26 feet through a roof onto a concrete floor, breaking several bones.

Ian Brian Griffiths, 41, of Theodore Close, Oldbury pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1)(c) and 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and to breaching section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Friday (18/12). He was also ordered to pay £1,408 costs.

The court heard that Craig Richard Thomas, aged 35 from Wolverhampton, and Paul Anthony Leggett, 28 from Oldbury, were working on the roof of industrial units at Camelot Way in Small Heath, Birmingham on 8 October 2008. They were employed as subcontractors by Mr Griffiths, who had been contracted to repair the building.

While Mr Leggett was on the roof, he lost his balance on a crawling board and fell through the roof. He suffered a broken leg, ankle, wrist and nose in the fall.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Mike Ford, said:

"Mr Leggett was lucky to survive falling 26 feet through the roof, landing on the concrete floor below. The equipment provided to these men and the system of work used was completely inadequate.

"The precautions taken to ensure their safety fell far short of what is acceptable.

"Working at height remains a major cause of death and injury at work in Great Britain. Employers must ensure the correct precautions are taken and the right equipment is used."

During the investigation by the (HSE) it also emerged that Mr Thomas had not received adequate training to carry out the job, putting him in danger.

Note to editors

1. Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
2. Regulation 4(1)c of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: "Every employer shall ensure that work at height is carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe."
3. Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 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."

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Issued on behalf of the HSE by COI News & PR (West Midlands)