Roofing firm fined £6,000 after 7m fall

Burnley contractor Webber Trading has been fined £6,000 at Gateshead Magistrates Court after a worker fell seven metres while carrying out refurbishment work on the roof of an industrial building in Gateshead.

The contractor pleaded guilty to charges under section 3(1) and section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was also ordered to pay £2,838.20 costs and £15 victim surcharge.

Jeffrey Robinson, a director of Webber Trading, who was present on the roof directing the work at the time of the incident, was fined £1,000. He was ordered to pay £200 costs and £15 victim surcharge.

The building owners had contracted Webber Trading to carry out industrial roof repairs which involved fitting steel sheets over the existing fragile plastic roof lights. The team of four working on the roof included the director Jeffrey Robinson.

Lucasz Czuba, 26, of Longbenton, Newcastle stepped onto an unprotected fragile plastic rooflight which gave way and he fell seven metres to the warehouse floor, sustaining serious injuries.

HSE Inspector Martin Smith said: "Last year (2007-08) more than half (52%) of the workers who died on construction sites worked in refurbishment, repair and maintenance. Of these, 34 were killed following a fall from height during construction work.

"The measures which should have been taken in order to prevent this incident happening are straightforward and well documented. It is clear that the director and the company failed to recognise the risks posed in working on the fragile rooflights. This serious incident could have been avoided."