Roofer survives potentially fatal fall

Coventry Magistrates’ Court heard that on 6 June 2018 a self-employed person working for Hamblett Building Services Limited at a site off Waverley Road in Kenilworth was injured when he fell through an unprotected skylight opening whilst attaching lathes to a roof in preparation for tiling. They sustained multiple fractures which could potentially have resulted in a fatality.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident found that skylight openings on this and other roofs on site had no collective or personal edge protection and that there was no scaffold or edge protection on the roof shared with neighbouring properties. Where there was scaffold on site, there were unprotected openings on working platforms increasing the risk of falls from the scaffold.

Hamblett Building Services Limited of Warwick Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The Company has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1078.

Speaking after the case HSE inspector Tony Mitchell said “The risks associated from falls from height whilst working on a roof are widely known throughout the building industry. Failing to protect workers from this risk is inexcusable. Simple safety measures could have prevented this incident and the injuries to the worker.”