The failure to properly plan and appropriately supervise work at height has led to a £60,000 fine for a Basingstoke roofing firm.
Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard that on 21 June 2017, a man was working on the roof at the Lok N Store facility, Basingstoke with two other roofers as part of a 10-week long roof replacement project.
The old asbestos cement sheet roof was being removed and replaced with trisomet sheeting. The man and a colleague were working up on the roof and another colleague was working within the building to remove bolts from the underside of the old roof.
The man fell 6.7 m from the open edge of the roof to the concrete floor below. He sustained multiple fractures.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigators found that Lane Roofing Contractors failed to properly plan and appropriately supervise the work to ensure that the risks created by working at height on a roof were carried out in a safe manner.
The firm admitted breaching reg 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations and was fined £60,000 plus £7,164 in costs.
“Working at height, with large open edges can be particularly dangerous and it is important that those in control of the work identify the risks posed by replacing roofs and then take appropriate control measures to safeguard workers and others, to ensure that the risks are being managed,” said HSE inspector Sharron Cripps after the hearing.