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Office worker injured by roll of felt falling through building roof light
Two roofing contractors have been fined and given suspended prison sentences after an office worker was injured when a roll of roofing felt crashed through the ceiling of her office in September 2010
Kathleen Philipson was sitting at her desk at offices in Ripley when the metre-long, 37kg roll fell through a roof light causing head, shoulder and arm injuries.
Contractor Jason Lunt allowed re-felting work to start on the flat roof before adequate protection had been installed. Sub-contractor Gregory Wright was engaged by Mr Lunt. When he moved a roll of roof felt it caused one of six others to topple and fall through an protected roof light.
Frightening experience could have been prevented
Jason Lunt, 41, of Valley Road, Bloxwich, in the West Midlands, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Gregory Wright, also 41, of Tewkesbury Road, Bloxwich, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the same act.
They both received sentences of 18 weeks, suspended for 12 months on the condition that they complete 280 hours of community service. In addition they were both ordered to pay £2,114 costs each by Derby magistrates today
After the hearing, HSE inspector Lee Greatorex said:
“Mrs Philipson was extremely lucky not to have suffered more severe injuries. This was a frightening experience for her, but it could have been easily prevented had greater care been taken.
Mr Lunt should have ensured an adequate system of work was in place and that roof lights were adequately protected before repair work began. As a roofer Mr Wright should have been aware the roof lights needed to be protected unless he had evidence they were capable of withstanding a substantial load.
There were 22 sets of roof lights, only one of which had been covered or protected to prevent falls of people or materials through them during the re-felting job.”