Company hit with fine after employee falls through roof

On 13 May 2020, a man working for Craven and Nicholas (Engineering) Ltd on St John’s Road in Boston, stepped onto a fragile roof surface and fell six metres through it – suffering serious injuries to his head and left arm.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that this task was not part of the normal work for employees of the company and they had not properly risk assessed and planned the work at height.

The lack of planning meant that reasonably practicable and recognised control measures that could have prevented the man falling from height, such as the use of purpose designed access equipment and over-boarding of fragile roof surfaces, had not been implemented.

At Lincoln Magistrates Court on Wednesday 21 September, Craven and Nicholas (Engineering) Ltd of St Johns Road in Boston pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 4(1)(a) and 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. They were fined £14,000 and also ordered to pay £6,541.80 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Tim Nicholson said, “Where work at height cannot be avoided, it should be properly planned, adequately supervised and carried out in a safe manner using appropriate equipment.

“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.

“There is a significant amount of guidance available to help companies protect employees when working at height on the HSE website.”