A Hampshire roofing boss has been fined after workers were spotted removing roof tiles without scaffolding or safety barriers to prevent them falling.
The man who bought used roof tiles from a demolition company dismantling a house in Esher, Surrey on the understanding his firm would remove them before the building was dismantled.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told Staines Magistrates’ Court that on 8 February 2010, a neighbour who lived opposite the property witnessed workmen removing roof tiles from the house in an unsafe manner and alerted HSE.
One man was reportedly standing on the wet roof with no safety barriers or scaffolding, another was in the raised bucket of a digger taking tiles from the roof, while a third was on top of a long ladder throwing wall tiles down to ground level.
HSE discovered the man had sent three Polish labourers to the property to remove the tiles, though he later claimed they started work earlier than agreed. HSE has been unable to contact any of the workers since the incident.
The court heard HSE attempted to reach the builder on more than five occasions to discuss the incident but he failed to answer correspondence, phone calls or attend interviews to discuss the matter.
The builder pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 25(1) (“Every contractor carrying out construction work shall comply with the requirements of regulations 26 to 44 insofar as they affect him or any person carrying out construction work under his control or relate to matters within his control”) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,497.
The HSE's Inspector involved with the case said:
“It is incredible that these workers were using an excavator bucket to get onto a wet roof and were allowed to remove tiles without anything to prevent them from falling. In this instance the risk of falling was also increased by the fact that it was wet from rain and sleet.
“Falls from height are among the biggest causes of workplace deaths in the UK. Roofing firms should have safe systems in place to protect employees and sub-contractors. HSE will not hesitate to prosecute companies that workers or members of the public at risk.”