Two companies; Touch Access LTD (TAL) and Beagle Technology Group LTD (BTGL) have been fined by the Magistrates' Courts in Bournemouth, after the company director of BTGL lost his balance cleaning out the roof gutters of the buildings and fell directly through a skylight made of plastic, of a distance of approximately 15 feet, breaking both wrists, an elbow and sustaining many cuts to his face.
The incident that occurred on 11 July 2013, has been investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and they found that TAL failed to ensure work at height was properly planned for and carried out safely, and BGTL failed provide the company with the necessary information on the hazards and risks of the job they were being contracted to do.
Both companies TAL and BGTL pleaded guilty to violating the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 retrospectively, and TAL were subsequently fined £5,000 with BGTL being fined £3,500 and both parties having to pay costs of £1,144.
After the hearing had occurred, HSE inspector Damien Milbourne said "Working on roofs is a high risk activity because it involves working at height. Falls through fragile materials, such as roof lights and asbestos cement roofing sheets, account for more deaths as a result of falling from height than any other single cause. The risks of working on fragile roofs are well-known, but so too are the ways to manage those risks, and all parties involved with work on fragile roofs must ensure the work is correctly planned and managed to ensure the safety of all involved.”
