Wolverhampton Company Fined

A Wolverhampton company that risked the lives of its employees during work on a roof has been fined £6,600.

Alexson Homes was fined after director Stan Alexander, his son Conrad and fellow director, Dean Mason, were taking apart a roof in Coalpit Lane, Brereton on February 8, 2010, with no safety measures in place to prevent them from falling.

The three workers risked falling almost five metres from the roof of the former children's home, which could have caused them serious injury or death.

The Health and Safety (HSE) investigation found that they also endangered the lives of other workers by disposing of materials off the roof without using a rubble chute or making sure that scaffold edge protection was fitted to the roof.

Alexson Homes Limited, based at Parker Road, Ashmore Park in Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty at Stafford Magistrates' Court to breaching Regulations 6(3) and 10(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. As well as the fine, it was also ordered to pay £900 in costs.

Prosecuting HSE Inspector, Martin Overstall, said: "All too often HSE Inspectors are called out to serious or fatal incidents in roof work where the precautions are minimal or absent - it is simply not good enough.

"Alexson Homes Limited was extremely lucky that no one was injured when working in such unsafe conditions."

Copyright © Press Association 2010

David Urpeth from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: “The fine imposed here for this work accident should provide a clear warning to companies that dangerous work practices will not be tolerated.

“All to often I have to help workers pursue their compensation claim after an accident at work which could and should have been avoided.”