A contractor has been fined £20,000 after a bricklayer broke his back after falling through a barn roof in Northumberland.
The 24-year-old stepped on a polycarbonate roof sheet and fell approximately eight feet to the concrete floor below. He suffered two broken vertebrae in his back and a fractured sternum, which required surgery.
He was working for Len Smith & Son Building Contractors carrying out repairs to the roof at East Fleetham Farm in Seahouses on 5 February 2025.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to ensure that adequate measures were in place to protect employees or contractors when working at height. There was no risk assessment or safe system of work for the work activity being undertaken.
Len Smith & Son Building Contractors, from Beadnell, Northumberland, pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £5,744 in costs by North Tyneside Magistrates Court last week (6 August).
HSE inspector Richard McMullen said: “The outcome of this case could have been much worse, but the man’s injuries were still very serious.”
