A firm has been fined after a trainee employee suffered multiple fractures when he fell eight metres from a roof in north London.
Nature’s Power Ltd was sentenced on 7 August following an investigation by the HSE, which identified a number of safety failings by the company.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard the firm was fitting a flue liner down a chimney as part of installation work for a wood-burning stove. The trainee was attempting to slide together an extendable roof ladder while balancing at the top of an access ladder resting against the house.
The investigation found that the access ladder wasn’t long enough to clear the guttering, and so didn’t extend to a point from which he could step off safely. The roof ladder began to slip away in his hands and pulled him off the access ladder. He was unable to hold on to anything to regain his balance, and fell three floors to the ground sustaining serious injuries.
The 22-year-old broke two vertebrae, his left ankle and wrist, fractured his pelvis and tore ligaments in the incident on 3 December 2012.
Nature’s Power Ltd, of Rickmandsworth, was fined a total of £30,000 and ordered to pay a further £5840 in costs after being found guilty in absentia of a breach of regulation 4(1)a and a breach of regulation 8(e) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Keith Levart said: “It was clear the access ladder had been used unsafely and that Nature’s Power Ltd had failed to plan the work properly, taking into account the specific issues that arose from using that site.
“If used correctly, access and roof ladders can provide safe access to chimneys. However, this one could not clear the guttering, which led to this entirely preventable incident and a trainee worker suffering serious injuries. It is only a matter of good fortune that these injuries weren’t fatal.”
He added: “There is no shortage of advice and information about safe use of ladders. Where necessary, there is ancillary equipment available such as adjustable ladder stays, and straps for securing ladders to the building.”
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