Labourer falls through gap in scaffolding

A multi-disciplined roofing company has been sentenced for breaching safety regulations after an employee fell through a gap in scaffolding and sustained multiple injuries, whilst working on a building in Scarborough.

York Magistrates’s Court heard that in November 2017 a labourer working for Scarborough-based Infiniti Roofing and Construction Ltd fell three meters onto an office roof below causing injuries to his left wrist.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that when the labourer was moving insulation panels on the roof, he stumbled and fell through the gap.

Although Infiniti Roofing and Construction Ltd had taken measures to reduce the risk of a fall the scaffolding did not fully extend along the roof in the area where the insulation panels were stacked and stored.

The fall caused the labourer to sustain a dislocation to his left wrist and a broken bone in his hand which has required him to undergo several operations.

Infiniti Roofing and Construction Ltd of Cayton Low Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company has been fined £22,667 and ordered to pay £7,228 in costs.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Jayne Towey commented: “The accident could have been prevented if edge protection, constructed and installed to industry standards, was in place where there was a risk of a fall from height.”