A director has been sentenced last month for a failure to prevent falls from height and his company was separately fined.
The case relates to an incident that took place in Leyburn, North Yorkshire on 11 October 2022, which resulted in 30-year-old employee sustaining life-changing injuries after falling through a fragile roof light that he stepped onto. He fell from a height of around 6m while installing roof sheets as part of a sheep barn extension. His injuries included five cranial fractures, 10 fractured ribs, a cranial bleed, hearing loss and fractures to his spine, eye socket, cheek, wrist and shoulder. He also sustained a collapsed left lung and a pulmonary embolism.
The HSE found the company had failed to implement basic work at height control measures. Although safety netting was in place, the regulator says it did not cover the entire work area and had been installed by persons who didn’t have sufficient skills to rig the safety equipment. The HSE also pointed to a failure to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase to ensure the work was carried out safely.
After pleading guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the HSWA, the business was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £6,101 in costs at Yorkshire Magistrates’ Court.
Source – IOSH
