HSE praises citizen for raising alarm over unsafe roof work

A roofer has appeared in court after a member of the public tipped-off the HSE about unsafe work at height at a Merseyside property.
Phillip McGinn, who trades as Stormguard Roofing, was contracted to re-tile the roof of a house at Old Race Course Road, in Maghull. On 21 August, a member of the public contacted the HSE after witnessing three men working on the roof without any measures in place to prevent them from falling.
HSE inspector Jackie Western visited the site the same day and saw McGinn and two other workers on the roof when she arrived. She found scaffolding had been erected around the front of the house but there was nothing in place to prevent the men falling from the roof at the side or back of the property.
The inspector immediately issued a Prohibition Notice, which required work to stop until suitable measures were put in place to prevent falls. Inspector Western said: “There were several ways this work could have been carried out safely, including fitting hand rails and toe boards around the edge of the roof to prevent people falling.
“Mr McGinn put his own life and the lives of two other men at risk by allowing the work to go ahead without suitable safety measures in place. The scaffolding at the front of the building did nothing to prevent them falling off the side or back of the roof.
“I would like to thank the person who alerted us about the work as, if they hadn’t, someone could have been seriously injured, or even killed.”
McGinn appeared at South Sefton Magistrates’ Court in Bootle on 13 December and pleaded guilty to breaching reg.6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
In mitigation, McGinn said he had no previous safety convictions and entered an early guilty plea. He complied with the enforcement notice by putting adequate scaffolding around the whole of the building.
The Safety Conversation Podcast: Listen now!
The Safety Conversation with SHP (previously the Safety and Health Podcast) aims to bring you the latest news, insights and legislation updates in the form of interviews, discussions and panel debates from leading figures within the profession.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, subscribe and join the conversation today!
HSE praises citizen for raising alarm over unsafe roof work
A roofer has appeared in court after a member of the public tipped-off the HSE about unsafe work at height at a Merseyside property.
Safety & Health Practitioner
SHP - Health and Safety News, Legislation, PPE, CPD and Resources
I recently tried to report unsafe roof work to my local authority and was told construction is nothing to do with them, when I questioned the manager if he was happy to leave people working on a fragile roof with no edge protection and access to the roof was out over the edge of a telehandler basket; he said it was construction and nothing to do with him. I then called the HSE the answer machine said their opening hours were from 9-5 Mon-Fri and to call back or leave a message this was at 3pm???
I have previously reported similar i.e. “bombing” of slates off roof of refurbish work in St helens to both council & HSE who both suggested reporting this to the other. No apparent action was taken.
The skips wee at roadside & slate & cement was being thrown over the heads of pedestrians using the foot path in between. It was ironic that the people working on roof were wearing hard hats not the people who were at risk.
It is a pity that all HSE inspectors are so diligent when members of the public report unsafe working practices. I reported a very similar incident where workers were on a roof with no safety measures in place. The HSE inspector took my details and said he would visit me – he cancelled and did nothing about the transgression.. probably could not be bothered with all the paperwork
I am today watching 2 roofers on a house roof near me with what appears to be no safety measures in place if they slipped off. Any advice would be appreciated
You can do that using a form on the HSE website… https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/concerns.htm