Roofing Contractor Fined for Safety Breaches

A roofing contractor has been fined for safety breaches after two employees were seen working at height without any protection from potential falls.

Incident

Employees of MW Roofing (NW) Ltd were removing a chimney on a two storey residential property in Rochdale at the time of the incident.

Manchester City Magistrates heard how an eye witness saw the workers accessing the roof via a cat ladder. The workers were then seen removing waste by carrying buckets down the ladder.

No safety measurements were in place to stop either worker falling off the roof.

The court was told how MW Roofing (NW) Ltd had already been warned by the Health and Safety Executive about unsafe working at height practices. The company however still continued to work in a dangerous manner.

Sentencing and fines

MW Roofing (NW) Ltd of Bury Road, Bamford, Rochdale was fined £6,000 after pleading guilty to multiple safety breaches. The company pleaded guilty to breaching both Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc.

They were also ordered to pay costs of £2,440.60.

HSE Inspector David Argument said after the hearing:

“You cannot ignore the dangers of working at height; it remains the main cause of death and serious injury in the workplace, particularly in the construction industry. Simple measures, such as providing guard rails can prevent death and serious injury”.

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Source: Health and Safety Executive