Work accident death leads to shop owner fined
A popular electronic franchise has been punished with a huge fine after a roofing worker died.
The personal injury victim was a casual worker taken on by a local roofing firm to paint guttering at one of the Wrexham stores.
The work accident occurred after the man fell 7.3 metres and died five days later from the wounds he suffered.
Scaffolding had been erected at the side of the store to enable the men to get on top of the roof, but the roof was made up of only a fragile sheet.
It later emerged that the labourer had no training, had no safety gear, had not been provided with a safe work system and was wearing trainer shoes.
During the trial at Mold Crown Court, the electronic goods business admitted that they had picked the building firm at random and had not provided the worker with their own health and safety policies.
As a result, they were smacked with a £75,000 fine and were ordered to pay £24,000 in costs.
The Judge stated that the incident was an accident waiting to happen and was totally avoidable.
Updated on 06/07/2010