Fall From Height At Work

A worker who was left seriously injured after falling almost ten feet through a barn roof he was cleaning has led to a company being fined £11,000.

The man suffered a broken collarbone, four broken ribs, a broken cheekbone, concussion and two crushed vertebrae, Chesterfield magistrates heard.

Alongside the fine, TF Jackson Portable Accommodation, of Harpur Hill Industrial Estate, Buxton, were ordered to pay £2,700 costs, following a successful prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The company admitted a breach of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 for failing to ensure there was a safe system of work in place for people working at height. It also admitted a breach of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 for failing to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.

The court heard that on 26 September 2008 the employee was cleaning and painting the roof of a cattle barn at Endmoor Farm in Monyash, Derbyshire, when he stepped onto a PVC roof light which gave way and fell around ten feet to the floor.

HSE inspector Edward Walker said: "They could have for example considered using a cherry picker, prevented access to the roof's fragile areas, installed safety nets under the roof or supplied their employees with harnesses."

Copyright © Press Association 2009

David Urpeth from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: “This is yet another terrible example of an accident at work caused by a worker falling from height.

“Falls from height remain a major source of serious and fatal injuries sustained following a work accident.

“Sadly, I am still seeing a large number of cases of workers who suffer injury in an accident at work following a fall from height.

“I would urge employers to take careful note of the dangers posed to their employees who need to work at height.”