HSE - Scaffolding Firm Fined - extract from the HSE website article dated 23rd Jan 2012
A construction firm has been prosecuted after a scaffolder suffered multiple injuries when he fell seven metres through a roof in Stoke-on-Trent.The 28-year-old employee of Fred Lewis Scaffold Company Ltd was installing scaffolding on 30 April 2010 at a factory in Plantation Road, Newstead Industrial Estate, when he fell through the fragile roof.
Fenton Magistrates' Court heard that father-of-three Gary Hampton shattered his thigh bone, bruised his lungs, broke both wrists, broke two vertebrae and cracked another.
He was in hospital for six weeks and will never be able to carry out any manual work again as his injuries have left him with considerable pain in his left leg and extremely weak wrists, which will require further surgery.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident found the company did not prepare or survey the job properly at the outset and failed to supervise or train its employees adequately.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Alastair Choudhury said:
"This case highlights both the dangers of working on fragile roofs and the continual exposure of scaffolders to the risk of falling .
"Falls from height remain the biggest cause of deaths within the construction industry, and this incident could easily have been fatal. HSE will continue to deal robustly with poorly performing companies in this area.
"Guidance on working safely at height, which includes how to identify and mitigate risks, is available free from HSE. We also undertake major work programmes to communicate safe practices to groups at risk in the industry, including scaffolders."
Information on working safely at height is available at www.hse.gov.uk/falls[1].
- Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."
