The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have issued fines to KML (Properties) Ltd. for unsafe work at height practices from employees.
Whilst on a site visit to the contractors, inspectors "observed a worker stripping slates from a fragile roof without any measures in place to prevent a fall through it, or mitigate the potential life-threatening effects of such a fall."
The HSE say 45% of deaths at work last year were a result of falls from height.
KML (Properties) Ltd. were fined £14,400 and the firm must also pay full HSE prosecution costs of £1,276 and a victim surcharge of £200, for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in relation to failing to plan the work being undertaken and also to provide adequate welfare facilities for operatives carrying out work on-site.
HSE inspector Jacqueline Western, who investigated the case, said: "These breaches of health and safety legislation were entirely preventable. Falls through fragile roofs are a common cause of work-related death or personal injury. Poor welfare facilities can cause significant health issues for workers – in this case the concern for operatives on-site was exposure to biological hazards from bird droppings, rat infestation and contamination of the site."
