A court has heard how a 69-year-old worker has been confined to a wheelchair after suffering irreparable damage to his spinal cord after he fell almost four metres through a fragile rooflight in March 2013.
Neil Knox of Pencaitland, East Lothian was replacing plastic rooflights on a farm shed in Lauder, in the Scottish Border when he fell and was left paralysed. His employer has now been fined £50,000 for serious safety failings relating to the incident.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard on 23 January that Mr Knox, a time served and experienced worker without any formal training in roofwork, was employed by David Miller Contracts Ltd to carry out roof repairs at the farm.
Mr Knox had climbed onto the roof using a ladder and crawlerboards to allow him to access the rooflights. He removed three of them before being called down for a tea break.
Mr Knox has no recollection of the incident that followed. A colleague knew he had gone back up onto the roof as he heard him moving about before hearing a loud noise. He found Mr Knox lying on the floor underneath a fourth rooflight which had a large hole in it.
Mr Knox was airlifted to hospital with broken ribs, a broken sternum and punctured lungs. His spine was fractured in two places, damaging his spinal cord, which has left him confined to a wheelchair with no movement or sensation in his legs. He also only has 50 per cent lung efficiency due to partial paralysis of his chest muscles.
An investigation by HSE found that David Miller Contracts Ltd had identified that the roof surface was likely to be fragile but failed to carry out a site-specific risk assessment and subsequently failed to plan the work properly.
The company also failed to identify that the work to replace the rooflights could be done from a working platform beneath the roof, or by using safety nets or harnesses to keep workers safe.
There were no measures in place to prevent someone standing on the fragile roof or rooflights other than the crawlerboards, which did not have any handrails to prevent workers stepping off them.
David Miller Contracts Ltd, of Steading Cottage, Newlands Farm, Gifford, East Lothian, was fined £50,000 after pleading guilty to breaching regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Following the case, HSE inspector Ritchie McCrae said: “This was an entirely avoidable incident. Falling from height is one of the most common reasons for injuries and even fatalities at work.
“David Miller Contracts Ltd should have been aware of the risks and the precautions that needed to be taken before starting the work. The dangers of fragile roofs are well known and consideration should have been given to using a platform underneath the rooflights or installing safety nets.
“The system of work planned by the company was unsafe, resulting in terrible life-changing injuries which have had a profound effect on Mr Knox and his family.”
Falling through fragile roofs and rooflights accounts for almost a fifth of all the fatal incidents which result from falls from height. On average, seven people are killed every year after falling through a fragile roof or rooflight. Many others suffer permanent disabling injuries.
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