A sole trader has been fined after a worker fell from a roof and suffered serious injuries – the second time he has been caught failing to provide basic edge protection.
The sole trader had a team of roofers and labourers replacing a flat roof at a house in the Luton area in December 2022. At around 11am, one of the workers was carrying large wooden boards when he stepped off the unprotected roof edge, falling around 10 feet. He sustained a fractured vertebra and a broken ankle.
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) investigation found the work had not been properly planned or risk assessed, and that edge protection – which would have prevented the fall – had not been installed, despite being reasonably practicable. It was only fitted after HSE intervention.
This was not his first brush with the regulator. The HSE had previously taken enforcement action against him for failing to provide edge protection on another roofing job.
‘Clearly he hadn’t learnt from his previous failures,’ said HSE inspector Tim Nicholson after the hearing. ‘Sadly, this latest offence resulted in a man being seriously injured. What makes this incident even more frustrating is the fact it could so easily have been avoided by properly planning the task and ensuring that suitable edge protection had been put in place prior to work starting.’
He pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations at Luton & South Bedfordshire Magistrates’ Court in July. He was fined £2,125 and ordered to pay £5,445 in costs.
Source – IOSH
