Employers urged to take proper precautions to prevent falls in the workplace

Published: HSE, August 2009

Employers are being warned to take correct precautions when their staff work at height, after a farm employee sustained serious injuries when he fell nearly 5 metres through a roof he was working on.

On 18th August, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) successfully prosecuted the owner of a Farm in Hull, for breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, over the incident in May 2008. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £1,858 costs at Hull and Holderness Magistrates Court.

The court heard that a farm employee fell through a roof whilst carrying out repairs on 13 May 2008. He suffered fractures to his spine, pelvis and hip, as well as a gash to his head. His employer failed to take suitable precautions to prevent a fall through the roof, which was not strong enough to support the weight of a person.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Alan Sheldon commented:

"The hazards and risks of working on roofs are well documented. HSE has produced a lot of guidance over many years specifically for the agriculture industry where approximately 70 fatalities have occurred from falls in the last ten years. More than half of these resulted from falls through fragile surfaces.

"In this case a farm employee fell over 4.5 metres to the ground as he stepped from a ladder onto the roof of a farm building. He suffered serious injuries. The measures in place at the time were not adequate to prevent this happening".

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."
2. More information on health and safety can be found by clicking this link: http://www.hse.gov.uk/index.htm
   

Back to news