A roofing company in Driffield has been fined nearly £10,000 after a worker suffered a fractured skull just weeks after starting at the company. The young worker, who has asked not to be named, was 20 years old when the incident occurred in September 2011. He had started work at Dodds Roofing Services Ltd not even a month before the incident happened.
The man was one of four employees installing solar panels on the roof of a farm in East Yorkshire when the incident occurred. He fell through a rooflight at the farm, hitting the concrete floor three metres below and suffered a fractured skull and temporary partial hearing loss as a result. He has since made a good recovery and been able to return to work.
On 21st October, Bridlington Magistrates’ Court heard how Dodds Roofing Services Ltd had provided a scaffold and crawling boards outside the farm building, but failed to act to sufficiently prevent a fall. The firm also did not provide safety measures inside the building, such as a scaffold or nets, to lessen the impact of a fall.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and on 21st October prosecuted the company at Bridlington Magistrates’ Court. The company was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000 after it pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
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