A London exhibition venue firm and a building contractor have been fined for safety failings after a specialist contractor fell through a fragile skylight.
The court heard that the exhibition venue firm allowed workers to cross an unsafe roof, which contained three fragile skylights and open edges, and failed to prevent contractors crossing the same unsafe roof on a number of occasions.
The building contractor had been appointed to undertake repair work at the site and was showing a specialist lead contractor the roof when the lead contractor fell over 5m through a skylight. He suffered suffered serious injuries including a shattered pelvis, broken wrist, and a broken elbow as a result of the fall.
The subsequent HSE investigation found that the exhibition venue firm had failed to ensure that access to and from the areas of the roof which required repair was suitable and safe, and that sufficient measures were in place to protect against the risks of falling from height. The firm was fined £300,000 with costs for breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974,
The building contractor failed to ensure that the job of accessing and then inspecting the roof was properly planned and was fined £4,000 for breaching Regulation 4(1)(a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Although the contractor suffered serious injuries, the outcome could have been far worse. According to the HSE, falls through skylights and rooflights account for on average 7 fatalities each year, but these types of accidents are totally preventable. Products such as Kee Cover and Kee Dome have been designed specifically to protect fragile rooflight and skylights. Both are modular in design so are easy to transport to a roof and assemble, giving guaranteed protection quickly and easily.
Mon, 10/03/2016 – 13:12
An exhibition firma and contractor have been prosecuted following a skylight fall.
Fragile skylight
