Loft firm fined £25,000 following worker fall

Loft conversion company Allied Welsh has been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,600 after a serious injury to one of its workers.

Carpenter David Morgan fell 5m from an extension ladder in November 2006 while he was carrying an 2.4m x 1.2m piece of chipboard weighing approximately 25kg. He suffered a severely broken ankle, broken wrist, and facial injuries where the wood hit him after he fell.

Allied pleaded guilty at Bridgend Magistrates' Court on 12 May to a charge under section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the hearing, Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Steve Richardson said: “The company did not have a safe and suitable method of getting materials from ground level up to the loft space where they were working.

"Slips, trips and falls can be viewed as being minor, funny accidents but the effects are not. It can lead to major injuries, a lifetime of disability and in worst cases, fatalities.

"Our investigation showed that the company had previous advice from HSE, but did not heed it on this occasion. There was a systematic failure to provide safe working practices in this particular area.

The HSE is currently running its 'Shattered Lives' campaign, to highlight the devastating consequences of slips, trips and falls in the workplace.

In Wales last year, one person died as a result of a fall from height, while there were a total of 2,599 injuries from slips, trips and falls.