04/10/2010 - Company fined over worker fall
A Hounslow company has been fined after a man was injured when he fell 4m from a roof he was working on.
Alfie Deville 59, from Petworth Gardens, Uxbridge, and three other men were dismantling a large steel framed building on April 30, 2009, when the incident occurred.
Two of the men went on to the roof to unscrew panels before removing them. The court heard the men were provided with a cherry picker, which would have enabled them to carry out the work without stepping onto the roof but they left the basket of the cherry picker.
Mr Deville stepped on a panel he had previously unscrewed but not removed. The panel gave way and Mr Deville fell to the ground below.
He fell more than 4m, suffering a broken collarbone, six fractured ribs and a head wound requiring seven stitches.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation showed Master Concrete had failed to properly plan the work and identify or address any hazards associated with the dismantling of the building.
The court heard the workers involved in the dismantling had no training or experience of this type of work.
After the incident a prohibition notice was served preventing further dismantling of the building until the work was properly planned and carried out by competent persons. However, this was ignored and the building was subsequently demolished by untrained employees.
HSE prosecuted Master Concrete Limited of Bedfont Trading Estate, Feltham for its role in the incident. The company was found guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at the City of London Magistrates' Court, on May 18, 2010. It was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £18,923.25.
HSE inspector Loraine Charles said:
"If the work had been properly planned and carried out by workers who were competent to do it, then this needless injury could have been avoided."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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