The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted two companies after a construction worker fell through a rooflight at a factory, impaling his leg on machinery below.
A.T. Lee Properties Ltd and LJH Property Ltd were fined a combined total of more than £95,000 following the incident in Keighley, Yorkshire.
Directors for each firm were also given conditional discharges and ordered to pay prosecution costs.
The man suffered leg injuries after falling at the Cirteq factory in July 2022.
He had been overcladding an existing asbestos cement roof with two other operatives when he stepped onto a fragile rooflight, causing him to fall through and narrowly miss a machine operator working below, HSE revealed.
The subsequent investigation found that principal contractor A.T. Lee Properties failed to ensure the works were properly planned, and that neither the company nor its subcontractor, LJH Property, had effective preventative and protective measures in place to control the risks associated with roof work.
Both firms also failed to ensure that the correct equipment and tools were in place to undertake the work safely, HSE said.
The investigation also found that subcontractor LJH Property failed to properly plan, supervise, or ensure the work was carried out safely, and its assessment of the risks arising from the work was both unsuitable and insufficient.
Companies fined
A.T. Lee Properties pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £47,783 and ordered to pay £2,386 in costs.
Company director Neil Cryer pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the same Act. He received a two-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £2,369 in costs.
LJH Property pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Act and was fined £47,818 and ordered to pay £2,518 in costs.
Company director Luke Hudson pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Act. He received a two-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £2,369 in costs.
HSE principal inspector Paul Thompson, who investigated the incident, said: “People working on the roof and those working below within the factory were placed at serious risk. Had the man [landed] just a short distance either side of where he was impaled, this could have been a wholly different outcome.
“Work at height continues to be the leading cause of workplace fatalities, and had this work been planned, managed and monitored to a sufficient standard by all parties involved, then this incident should not have occurred.”
HSE guidance for those planning work at height and how it can be carried out safely, including the preventative measures required, is available here.
Further guidance for those undertaking the role of principal contractor is also available here.
