Vehicle repair firm in court over Manchester roof death

Date:

16 February 2012

Release No:

HSE/NW/62Quality

A vehicle repair firm has been sentenced over the death of a man who fell through a fragile garage roof in Manchester.

The garage where Mohammed Hashim fell

Mohammed Hashim, 76, was helping to fix a new advertising sign to the roof of GB Autos on the Longsight Industrial Estate on Newton Avenue when he fell through a skylight. He did not regain consciousness and died two weeks later in hospital.

Quality Exhaust Supplies and Fitting Service Ltd, which owns the garage, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to ensure Mr Hashim's safety.

Manchester Crown Court heard the owner of the company had asked him to climb onto the sloping roof to help fix the sign in place on 8 February 2009. Once the work was finished, Mr Hashim made his way back across the roof to the ladder when the skylight gave way.

The 76-year-old from Cheetham Hill fell four metres and landed on the concrete floor in the MOT bay below. He was treated at the scene but died from his injuries on 22 February 2009.

The HSE investigation found Mr Hashim had been warned about the fragile roof by the owner of the company and no action was taken to keep him safe by preventing him accessing the area.

Quality Exhaust Supplies and Fitting Service Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in prosecution costs on 16 February 2012.

Speaking after the hearing, Matt Greenly, the investigating inspector at HSE, said:

"It's almost unbelievable that Mohammed Hashim was asked to climb onto the roof when the owner of Quality Exhaust knew it wasn't safe.

"It simply isn't good enough to warn someone about a danger if no action is taken to prevent it. The company should have found another way of installing the sign without putting lives at risk.

"Instead, Mr Hashim has sadly lost his life because not enough thought was given to his safety while he was working for the company."

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. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."

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