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Contractor cuts corners in provision of edge protection for work at height
A roofing contractor from Yorkshire has been prosecuted after being caught on camera balancing dangerously on the roof of a domestic property whilst replacing tiles.
Colin Howles, aged 53, was ‘snapped’ as he and another man worked at height on the property where scaffolding had not been erected to prevent falls of some 6m. HSE issued a Prohibition Notice when the site was visited as part of routine inspection on 3 November 2010.
The court heard that although two scaffolding towers were erected at the front of the property there was no scaffolding at the rear.
Defendant should have known how to carry out the work safely
Colin Howles pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 after he failed to take action to prevent workers being injured in a fall. Mr Howles, of Oldham, was fined £350 and ordered to pay £600 in prosecution costs on 28 October 2011.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Tom Merry said:
“Mr Howles has more than 30 years’ experience in the building trade so should have known how to carry out the work safely. In fact, he erected scaffolding at the front of the house but not at the back.
Not only did he risk his own life, he also risked the life of another worker by allowing extensive roof work to take place without scaffolding on both sides of the building.
It is through sheer luck that neither he nor the other worker became one of the thousands of people who are killed or seriously injured in a workplace falls every year.”