Firms hit with £50,000 fines and costs after roofer fall

TWO firms have been ordered to pay a total of around £50,000 in fines and legal costs after a worker suffered permanent injuries when he fell through a roof.

Peter Tracey plummeted five metres on to a concrete floor while removing asbestos roof sheets from a disused building in Poynton.

The 59-year-old suffered critical injuries, including two collapsed lungs, fractures to his ribs and hip, and a ruptured left shoulder tendon.

Local Asbestos Services Ltd and Construction Contracting UK Ltd were prosecuted by the Health and Safety (HSE).

A sentencing hearing at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on August 8 heard Mr Tracey was part of a group of labourers hired to remove the asbestos sheets from the roof of a former factory on Middlewood Road during its demolition on April 5 last year.

The court heard that despite an agreement that sheets would be removed using a cherry picker or scissor lift, two of the men, including Mr Tracey, were allowed to climb on to the roof without safety equipment, such as nets or harnesses.

Executive

Construction Contracting UK Ltd, of Ashby Road in Hinckley, Leicestershire, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £23,706 after being found guilty of a single breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 by failing to monitor the roof work to make sure it was safe.

Local Asbestos Services Ltd, of Salisbury Road in Haydock, was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £6,371 in costs after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by failing to ensure the roof work was carried out safely.