The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have this month highlighted that everyone involved in the planning and carrying out of contruction work has some responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of the workers. Specifically, they have warned companies of the need to carry out adequate risk assessments when working on fragile roofs, following the death of a scaffolder from Warrington. The worker died after falling through a fragile roof light while working on an extension to a warehouse operated by Unichem PLC, on Walton Summit, Preston on 9 June 2003.
Three companies and two individuals have been prosecuted by the HSE over the incident, under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations SI 1994/3140, which has now been revoked and replaced by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations SI 2007/320. They were fined a total of 68,000, with £47,407 in costs. Ian Connor, Acting Principal Inspector for the HSE said, "This was a tragic accident in which a man lost his life in circumstances that could so easily have been prevented. The dangers presented by fragile roof materials have been well known for many years, yet were not taken into consideration in this case."
