A Yorkshire roofing company and its director have been handed harsh sentences after failing to prevent the death of a worker who fell twelve metres through a storm-damaged skylight.
The incident occurred in December 2016. At that time, 39-year-old Jonathan May was working as a subcontractor for Davis Industrial Roofing Limited, who are based in Wakefield.
May and two others were working on the roof of a warehouse, replacing some skylights that had been damaged during a recent hailstorm. May fell through one of these skylights and dropped 12 metres (approx. 39 feet) to his death.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigated this incident and found that Davis Industrial Roofing Limited had "failed to provide an appropriate risk assessment, method statement, and suitable and sufficient fall protection measures for the roof work to be carried out safely".
What consequences did the company face?
Davis Industrial Roofing Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
On 16 November 2022, the company was fined £20,000 plus costs of £12,557.
Additionally, Melvyn Davis - the company's sole director and the person responsible for carrying out a risk assessment and providing suitable fall protection equipment - pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
He was sentenced to eight weeks in prison (suspended for 12 months) and ordered to do 15 days of rehabilitation activity.
Fall protection is important!
As this story illustrates, working at height can be extremely dangerous - and if you fail to take suitable precautions, the consequences can be very grave indeed.
Before allowing work at height to go ahead, employers MUST:
- Carry out a thorough risk assessment
- Provide a method statement
- Ensure that appropriate fall protection measures are in place
Here at SafetyLiftinGear, we offer a wide range of height safety products - such as safety harnesses and fall arrest blocks - to help prevent potentially deadly falls.
Different situations require different precautions, so please feel free to get in touch if you need advice regarding fall protection measures.
Height Safety Equipment Fall Protection Systems
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