Birmingham firm fined for unsafe work at height

Date:

17 February 2011

Release No:

WM354/11

A Birmingham construction firm has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for putting its staff at risk when working at height.

An HSE inspection on 16 October 2009 revealed that three employees from Spanclad Construction Ltd, of Nursery Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, were replacing skylights at Adroit Modular Buildings plc in Worcester at a height of over 5m, with no protection from falls as they walked to their place of work across a fragile roof.

Worcester Magistrates' Court heard today that the workers had to walk along 60cm wide staging boards on the building roof to the skylights.

The boards had no guard rails, there was nothing for the workers to hold onto and there was no safety protection underneath - such as netting, soft landing bags or a birdcage scaffold - to prevent them from falling through the fragile roof onto the concrete floor.

This work had already been in progress for at least three days when an HSE inspector attended the site following an unrelated incident involving another company.

Spanclad Construction pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £5,271 costs.

HSE inspector Paul Humphries said:

"Walking on staging boards with no handrails, while on a 5m high fragile roof and near fragile skylights, without bags, nets or any similar protection underneath, or any other fall arrest system in use, poses a significant risk to the safety of workers, should they trip or step off the boards or onto the roof or a skylight.

"This is an unacceptable work practice, particularly as clear guidance on working at height is available from HSE."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."
3. HSE guidance on working at height is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/campaign/wahthebasics.pdf

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