A Leicestershire company and its building contractor have been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for allowing three employees to work on a roof without adequate safety protection.

Between 8 December, 2008 and 16 January, 2009, Cobham Advanced Composites employed Streamline Guttering and Cladding of Kirkby Muxloe in Leicestershire to install new guttering on its seven metre high building.

Workers accessed the roof by a mobile tower at the front of the building – but there was no equipment to stop them falling at the back of the building, where work was taking place.

At an earlier hearing, Streamline Guttering and Cladding was fined after pleading guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

On Tuesday, 23 March at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court, Cobham Advanced Composites Ltd, of Gelders Hall Road in Shepshed, Leicestershire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,777.90.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Mhairi Lockwood said that there was ‘a foreseeable risk of a fall’ through either fragile roof lights or from the unprotected edge of the building,

‘Working on roofs is a high risk activity,’ said Ms Lockwood. ‘Any of the three roofing contractors could have suffered serious injuries or worse if they had fallen.

‘This case shows that it is not only the responsibility of the contracting company to ensure the safety of its workforce, but also that of its client.

‘It’s essential that the hazards associated with work at height are recognised and understood by the client or customer who commissions the work – and that they have a responsibility for controlling contractors when on their premises,’ Ms Lockwood added.

‘Falls from height cause more workplace deaths than anything else. Working at height can be very dangerous if the right measures are not taken to protect workers.’

More information about safety measures that can protect employees working at height is available at www.hse.gov.uk/shatteredlives.

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