GW Padley Poultry Ltd and four of its contractors have been fined for repetitive safety failings when workers were caught on a roof without taking the proper safety precautions.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors witnessed unsafe work at height on 13 March 2012 while workers were building a poultry shed at the company’s site which lead to their prosecution.
There was no scaffolding or edge protection in place on the roof which was around six metres high. An inspector asked the workers to come down, which to do so they had to walk about ten metres along the sloping roof and down a ladder which was insecure. A Prohibition Notice was issued, stopping further work on the roof until a suitable edge protection was put in place.
When inspectors returned three days later, work on the roof had been completed but the necessary safety precautions had still not been put into place. A second Prohibition Notice was served.
When at trial, it was heard that Harlow Brothers Ltd and Philip Bates both had previous convictions for work on poultry house roofs without edge protection.
GW Padley Poultry Ltd pleaded guilty and was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 in costs. The four contractors were also fined for breaches of health and safety legislation.
Martin Waring, HSE inspector stated: “In this case there was clear evidence of a very poor attitude to health and safety generally on this site. Each of the defendants had clear duties to ensure the safety of the workers, however these were repeatedly ignored.”
