Firms fined after roofer falls from a Halifax mill

A roofing contractor and the owners of a mill have been fined almost £5,000 after a roofer broke both his heels in a 4m fall.

Contractor Michael Stephenson of Horton Bank Top, Bradford, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,500 in costs following the injury of worker Francis Ancliffe on 31 October 2007.

Ancliffe was carrying out repair works to a roof at Ladyship Mills in Halifax when he fell 4m after a ladder he was using became detached from the roof ridge.

Stephenson pleaded guilty to a health and safety breach along with mill owners Calderbrooke Estates, who were fined £2,500 over the incident and told to pay costs of £3,355.

The Halifax Magistrate’s Court heard there had been problems with systems of work from the first day on the job, with scaffolding and guard rails missing from some places.

Essential scaffolding was also dismantled before work was completely finished and workers risked falling through glass in the room.

Health and Safety Executive inspector David Welsh said: “This incident caused serious injures, and could have been life threatening.

“There were problems with this work from the start of the job, and none of them were dealt with in a suitable way.

“The incident need never have happened if the correct systems had been put in place.”