Shrewsbury firm fined £8,000 after worker broke his spine in fall through roof on building site
Two Shrewsbury-based companies have been fined after a worker fell through a roof during work on a house extension.
Roofrite (Shropshire) Limited was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,990 after pleading guilty to three charges of breaching working at height regulations at a hearing at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, May 19.
Meanwhile Harding and Houlston Building Contractors Limited, which acted as the principal contractor on the site, also pleaded guilty to a breach of construction regulations and was ordered to pay a £500 fine and costs of £2,990 at the same hearing.
The court was told that the injured man was one of several workers carrying out work on the roof of a property in Shrewsbury on December 9, 2022.
He accidentally stepped in an area where there was an opening for a window that was yet to be installed, resulting in him falling through and to the ground below, suffering fractures to his spine and ribs.
A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that external scaffolding had been put into place around the perimeter of the extension to allow workers access to the roof. However, there were no measures in place internally to prevent falls into the extension and to the ground below.
The HSE investigation also found that Roofrite (Shropshire) Limited had failed to properly plan the work and to provide its workers with suitable instructions for carrying out their duties safely.
Principal contractors Harding and Houlston Building Contractors Limited had also failed to ensure that the roof work had been properly planned, and failed to carry out any monitoring of the work that was being completed by the roofers on the site, which was under its control.
HSE inspector Sara Andrews said: “Working at height remains one of the leading causes of workplace injury and death.
“This incident highlights the importance of undertaking a thorough assessment of the risks for all work at height activities. Suitable control measures, such as internal crash deck, should also be implemented to minimise the risk of serious personal injury.
“All principal contractors must ensure such control measures are in place throughout the duration of the work.”
