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Workman seriously injured during fall through school building rooflight
Ploughcroft Building Services has been prosecuted after a workman was injured when he fell through the roof of a Stockport school on 14 June 2010.
Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard the 24-year-old Chris Buck, from Brighouse in West Yorkshire, was helping to make the roof waterproof when he tripped over cables and fell 2.6m through a fragile rooflight to the concrete floor below. He suffered injuries to his back and neck, and has been unable to return to work.
Injured man could have fallen on children below
The company failed to provide precautions e.g. cover or barrier, for the rooflight despite being advised to do so in a report by a health and safety consultant less than six weeks earlier. Mr Buck said:
“I had a very lucky escape and I don’t like to think about what might have happened. I could have quite easily have landed on me head or on children below which could have led to serious injuries.
Ploughcroft Building Services, admitted of breaching Regulation 9 (2) (a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by failing to prevent the worker falling through the skylight. and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £10,937 in prosecution costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sandra Tomlinson said:
“This incident could easily have resulted in one of Ploughcroft’s employees being paralysed or even killed. Despite surviving, the injuries he’s suffered mean he has lost the confidence to be able to return to work as a roofer.
There were children walking under the skylight just minutes before he fell through it, so other individuals were also put at risk by Ploughcroft’s actions.”