Roofer suffers broken back in work accident
An East London building firm was recently fined following an accident in which an employee suffered serious injury after a fall through a skylight.
The man of 41 years of age, had been working on a 1st-storey extension, when, stepping onto a section of insulating board covering a skylight, he fell after the board gave way, hitting a concrete floor fully 3 metres below.
The man suffered a broken back, which caused him life-changing injuries.
The owner of the business had been responsible for the supervision of work on the construction site when the accident occurred. He has since been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £7,000 in costs after admitting to breaches of Health and Safety regulations.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) concluded that the accident could easily have been avoided, had the owner undertaken the necessary safety measures.
An HSE spokesperson has stated that the accident’s impact was “immeasurable”, adding that there could be no room for complacency even on the smallest of construction sites.
It remains to be seen whether the injured man will pursue his own work accident claim for compensation.
Source: http://www.safetyphoto.co.uk/blog/?cat=99
Updated on 1/4/2011