Company fined after worker injured in roof fall
- An Edinburgh-based contracting firm has been fined for safety failings after a worker was injured when he fell five metres head first through a roof light.
Kieran Thomson was repairing roofs at J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC’s own plant yard at Redbraes Place when the incident occurred on 7 December 2012.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that Mr Thomson was on the roof of an old joiners’ workshop when he asked a colleague to pass him up a ladder. Mr Thomson levered it onto the top of a scaffold pole and walked backwards pulling the ladder on to the roof. As he did so he caught his heel on a domed plastic rooflight and, despite trying to stop himself, fell head first through it.
He fell five metres and struck his head on the table of an industrial floor-mounted bandsaw, which had no blade, before landing on his side on the floor. He was taken to hospital with bruising on his left arm, leg and side, a cut to the back of his head and cuts to his legs. He was discharged later that evening and returned to work four weeks later.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that J Smart & Co had failed to carry out a risk assessment in advance of the work starting, and that there were no measures in place to prevent people stepping or falling onto the roof light, such as protective covers or perimeter barriers.
The investigation concluded the firm had failed to properly plan and appropriately supervise work being carried out at height, and ensure that the work was carried out in a safe manner.
J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC, of Crammond Road South, Edinburgh, was fined £1,600 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Following the case, HSE Inspector Isabelle Martin, said:
“This was an entirely avoidable incident. Falls from height remain one of the most common reasons for injuries and even fatalities at work, and it is fortunate that Mr Thomson survived such a fall.
“J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC should have carried out a risk assessment before work started. It is well known that roof lights are fragile and the control measures required to ensure that people do not fall through them are equally well known.”
Falls through fragile roofs and fragile roof lights account for almost a fifth of all the fatal accidents which result from a fall from height in the construction industry. On average seven people are killed each year after falling through a fragile roof or fragile roof light. Many others suffer permanent disabling injury.
Builder fined after worker injured in roof fall
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that Mr Thomson was on the roof of an old joiners’ workshop when he asked a colleague to pass him up a ladder. Mr Thomson levered it onto the top of a scaffold pole and walked backwards pulling the ladder on to the roof. As he did so he caught his heel on a domed plastic rooflight and, despite trying to stop himself, fell head first through it.
He fell five metres and struck his head on the table of an industrial floor-mounted bandsaw, which had no blade, before landing on his side on the floor. He was taken to hospital with bruising on his left arm, leg and side, a cut to the back of his head and cuts to his legs. He was discharged later that evening and returned to work four weeks later.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that J Smart & Co had failed to carry out a risk assessment in advance of the work starting, and that there were no measures in place to prevent people stepping or falling onto the roof light, such as protective covers or perimeter barriers.
The investigation concluded the firm had failed to properly plan and appropriately supervise work being carried out at height, and ensure that the work was carried out in a safe manner.
J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC, of Crammond Road South, Edinburgh, was fined £1,600 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Following the case, HSE Inspector Isabelle Martin, said:
“This was an entirely avoidable incident. Falls from height remain one of the most common reasons for injuries and even fatalities at work, and it is fortunate that Mr Thomson survived such a fall.
“J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC should have carried out a risk assessment before work started. It is well known that roof lights are fragile and the control measures required to ensure that people do not fall through them are equally well known.”
Falls through fragile roofs and fragile roof lights account for almost a fifth of all the fatal accidents which result from a fall from height in the construction industry. On average seven people are killed each year after falling through a fragile roof or fragile roof light. Many others suffer permanent disabling injury.
Builder fined after worker injured in roof fall
- A builder has been fined for safety failings after a worker was injured when he fell through the fragile roof of a cowshed.
James Coe, 25, from Strathaven, was one of several people employed by John Watson Leggate to repair the roof at a local farm when the incident occurred on 26 August 2010.
Hamilton Sheriff Court was told that Mr Coe had been lifted up to the cowshed roof after standing on a silage cutter fitted to a telehandler.
He stepped off the cutter and onto the roof, which was made of asbestos sheets that were just 6mm thick, before walking across it towards the ridge to access the opposite side.
There were no supporting timbers or boards and suddenly and without warning the roof sheets on which he was standing collapsed inwards, causing him to fall. He struck tensioned wire underneath before landing on the wire.
Mr Coe was taken to hospital with bruising to his ribs and a cut to his head. He was discharged the following day and made a full recovery within weeks.
A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that he had alerted his workers to the dangers of the roof and its fragility, but that the advice given was to use timbers and boards to spread their weight. This method is viewed by HSE as woefully inadequate and out of date.
In addition, the use of the telehandler and silage cutter provided a significant risk of falling and exposed the men to risk every time it was used to gain access to the roof.
The investigation also revealed John Leggate was not continually on site, attending only periodically to monitor the progress of the works, and that the instructions and advice that had been given to the men were inadequate. The men themselves were not competent and trained for the task.
HSE concluded that John Leggate had failed to properly plan and appropriately supervise work being carried out at height, and to ensure that the work was carried out in a safe manner.
John Watson Leggate, 73, of The Ward, Strathaven, was fined £750 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Following the case, HSE Principal Inspector Graeme McMinn, said:
“This was an entirely avoidable incident. Falls from height remain one of the most common reasons for injuries and even fatalities at work, and Mr Coe was extremely fortunate not to have been more severely injured.
“The risks associated with work at height, and fragile roofs in particular, are very well known, and the HSE has produced substantial amounts of free advice to assist duty holders to comply with the relevant legislative and regulatory requirements.”
Falls through fragile roofs and fragile roof lights account for almost a fifth of all the fatal accidents which result from a fall from height in the construction industry. On average seven people are killed each year after falling through a fragile roof or fragile roof light. Many others suffer a permanent disabling injury.
Hamilton Sheriff Court was told that Mr Coe had been lifted up to the cowshed roof after standing on a silage cutter fitted to a telehandler.
He stepped off the cutter and onto the roof, which was made of asbestos sheets that were just 6mm thick, before walking across it towards the ridge to access the opposite side.
There were no supporting timbers or boards and suddenly and without warning the roof sheets on which he was standing collapsed inwards, causing him to fall. He struck tensioned wire underneath before landing on the wire.
Mr Coe was taken to hospital with bruising to his ribs and a cut to his head. He was discharged the following day and made a full recovery within weeks.
A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that he had alerted his workers to the dangers of the roof and its fragility, but that the advice given was to use timbers and boards to spread their weight. This method is viewed by HSE as woefully inadequate and out of date.
In addition, the use of the telehandler and silage cutter provided a significant risk of falling and exposed the men to risk every time it was used to gain access to the roof.
The investigation also revealed John Leggate was not continually on site, attending only periodically to monitor the progress of the works, and that the instructions and advice that had been given to the men were inadequate. The men themselves were not competent and trained for the task.
HSE concluded that John Leggate had failed to properly plan and appropriately supervise work being carried out at height, and to ensure that the work was carried out in a safe manner.
John Watson Leggate, 73, of The Ward, Strathaven, was fined £750 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Following the case, HSE Principal Inspector Graeme McMinn, said:
“This was an entirely avoidable incident. Falls from height remain one of the most common reasons for injuries and even fatalities at work, and Mr Coe was extremely fortunate not to have been more severely injured.
“The risks associated with work at height, and fragile roofs in particular, are very well known, and the HSE has produced substantial amounts of free advice to assist duty holders to comply with the relevant legislative and regulatory requirements.”
Falls through fragile roofs and fragile roof lights account for almost a fifth of all the fatal accidents which result from a fall from height in the construction industry. On average seven people are killed each year after falling through a fragile roof or fragile roof light. Many others suffer a permanent disabling injury.
Firm sentenced for serious safety breaches
- A London firm has been ordered to pay more than £250,000 in fines and costs for safety failings after a worker was killed by a large concrete beam during a dangerous lifting operation in strong winds at a hospital construction site in Essex.
Guilherme de Oliveira, 44, from Portugal, sustained fatal crush injuries in the incident at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford on 10 November 2008.
Bouygues UK Ltd, the principal contractor for an extension project at the hospital, was sentenced after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified serious safety breaches in their lifting operations.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Mr de Oliveira was working for Bouygues through an agency as a banksman, and was fixing beams across supporting towers to form part of the concrete structure for a new building. The beams were lifted from ground level to the work area by a tower crane.
Mr de Oliveira and another banksman climbed the support towers to unhook the lifting chains from the concrete beam, which was some seven metres in length and was due to sit almost three metres off the ground.
The beam was lifted into position, but the weather on the day was worsening with increasing wind speeds. Before Mr de Oliviera was able to disconnect the chains on the beam at his side, the wind gusted at such a speed that it exceeded the safe working parameters of the tower crane.
As a result, the slew brakes slipped and the crane moved with the wind. The sudden movement caused the crane to swing round with the beam, which caught Mr de Oliveira and crushed him between the beam and an adjacent tower. The wind speed at that time was in excess of 72km/h.
The HSE investigation found that four tower cranes were in operation at the site, each one fitted with a sensor that measured wind speed and provided warnings at pre-set values: an amber warning at 50 km/h or more and a red warning at 72km/h or more.
The sensors were linked to a computer in the site office to allow managers to monitor data and supervise lifting operations. However, at the time of the incident it was not being monitored and on-site arrangements allowed crane operators to check their own wind speed displays. So they would only have stopped lifting if they considered it necessary, and not necessarily when the maximum wind speed limit was exceeded.
HSE concluded that there was inadequate planning and supervision of the work. Had a suitable management procedure been in place and followed there would have been the opportunity to properly consider the deteriorating weather conditions and then take the tower cranes out of operation.
Bouygues UK Ltd, of York Road, London, SE1 was fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £80,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations.
Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Dominic Elliss, said:
“Although the judge was not satisfied that the company’s failings were a direct cause for Mr de Oliveira’s death, he said there was a systemic failure where a risk of serious injury was foreseeable.”
“Lifting operations can be highly hazardous and the appropriate standards are clearly set out in both the regulations and industry guidance. There is no excuse to ignore them and I would urge all those undertaking such work to review the effectiveness of their own controls to ensure safety on construction sites.”
Bouygues UK Ltd, the principal contractor for an extension project at the hospital, was sentenced after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified serious safety breaches in their lifting operations.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Mr de Oliveira was working for Bouygues through an agency as a banksman, and was fixing beams across supporting towers to form part of the concrete structure for a new building. The beams were lifted from ground level to the work area by a tower crane.
Mr de Oliveira and another banksman climbed the support towers to unhook the lifting chains from the concrete beam, which was some seven metres in length and was due to sit almost three metres off the ground.
The beam was lifted into position, but the weather on the day was worsening with increasing wind speeds. Before Mr de Oliviera was able to disconnect the chains on the beam at his side, the wind gusted at such a speed that it exceeded the safe working parameters of the tower crane.
As a result, the slew brakes slipped and the crane moved with the wind. The sudden movement caused the crane to swing round with the beam, which caught Mr de Oliveira and crushed him between the beam and an adjacent tower. The wind speed at that time was in excess of 72km/h.
The HSE investigation found that four tower cranes were in operation at the site, each one fitted with a sensor that measured wind speed and provided warnings at pre-set values: an amber warning at 50 km/h or more and a red warning at 72km/h or more.
The sensors were linked to a computer in the site office to allow managers to monitor data and supervise lifting operations. However, at the time of the incident it was not being monitored and on-site arrangements allowed crane operators to check their own wind speed displays. So they would only have stopped lifting if they considered it necessary, and not necessarily when the maximum wind speed limit was exceeded.
HSE concluded that there was inadequate planning and supervision of the work. Had a suitable management procedure been in place and followed there would have been the opportunity to properly consider the deteriorating weather conditions and then take the tower cranes out of operation.
Bouygues UK Ltd, of York Road, London, SE1 was fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £80,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations.
Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Dominic Elliss, said:
“Although the judge was not satisfied that the company’s failings were a direct cause for Mr de Oliveira’s death, he said there was a systemic failure where a risk of serious injury was foreseeable.”
“Lifting operations can be highly hazardous and the appropriate standards are clearly set out in both the regulations and industry guidance. There is no excuse to ignore them and I would urge all those undertaking such work to review the effectiveness of their own controls to ensure safety on construction sites.”
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