Liverpool businessman fined £112k over roof fall death

Date:

13 January 2012

Release No:

HSE/NW/07Mann

A Liverpool businessman has been fined £112,000 after a labourer died following a fall from the roof of an industrial unit, just months after another worker was injured in a fall at the same site.

John McCleary fell 15 feet while fitting roof panels at a construction site in Toxteth being managed by Taj ul Malook Mann. He lost his balance while on a narrow beam he was using as no scaffolding had been erected.

The industrial unit in Toxteth where John McCleary fell

The 51-year-old father-of-two, from Toxteth, was paralysed from the waist down and died of pneumonia just over seven months later as a result of his injuries. Mr Mann was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following Mr McCleary's death.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Mr Mann had hired Mr McCleary to fit roof panels on an industrial unit he owned in High Park Street, Toxteth. But no scaffolding was supplied and Mr McCleary had to carry out the job while standing on four-inch wide steel beams, leading to him losing his balance and falling.

He underwent an eight hour operation after the incident on 12 June 2008 and was readmitted to hospital in December with illnesses related to his condition. He died on 27 January 2009.

Video image taken from John McCleary's mobile phone showing the unsafe work

During the HSE investigation, video was discovered which had been filmed by Mr McCleary on his mobile phone in the weeks before his fall. It shows labourers carrying out work while on top of the narrow roof beams.

Investigations also revealed a bricklayer had escaped with minor injuries after falling from scaffolding at the site in an earlier incident. The worker had refused to continue working for Mr Mann after the incident.

Mr McCleary's aunt, Beryl Swanwick, said:

"John was a very special person - thoughtful, kind, caring and unselfish. His death has left a void in all our lives that cannot be filled.

"We are all devastated by his loss, which is made worse by the nature of his death. Having been paralysed by falling from the roof, he then went on to suffer immeasurably in a critical care unit for one month before he died.

"We miss his voice, his face and everything about him. Nothing can compensate us for the loss of John."

Taj ul Malook Mann, of Queen's Drive, Liverpool, admitted four breaches of health and safety regulations after failing to take steps to prevent a fall which could have resulted in injury, and failing to ensure that work on his site was being carried out safely. He also did not fulfil his legal duty to report the incident to HSE.

He was fined £112,000 and ordered to pay £19,331 in prosecution costs on 13 January 2012.

Speaking after the hearing, the investigating inspector at HSE, Kevin Jones, said:

"Property developers must understand that health and safety rules need to be adhered to at all times, regardless of how small a project may be.

"As the project manager at the site, Mr Mann was in charge of buying in materials and employing people to carry out work, but he completely failed to take any steps to protect his workforce. John McCleary was balancing on narrow beams with absolutely nothing in place to stop him from falling.

"Had Mr Mann used scaffolding or netting as he should have done, John McCleary would still be alive today. I sincerely hope that this case acts as a warning to other property developers who think that the law doesn't apply to them."

Last year, 38 workers were killed in Great Britain as a result of a fall and more than 4,000 suffered major injuries. Information on working safely at height is available at www.hse.gov.uk/falls.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related 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. Taj ul Malook Mann pleaded guilty to breaching the following regulations:
   • Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 which states that: "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."
   • Regulation 13(2) of the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2007 which states: "Every contractor shall plan, manage and monitor construction work carried out by him or under his control in a way which ensures that, so far as is reasonably practicable, it is carried out without risks to health and safety."
   • Regulation 3(1)(b) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 which states: "Any person in control of a premises or workplace has a duty to report any accidents or injuries to the Health and Safety executive as soon as is practicable and in any event within ten days."

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