A worker suffered serious injuries when he fell through a fragile skylight at a north London warehouse.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that Rugby-based Grenergy Solar Ltd was contracted to install 342 solar panels on the roofs of two warehouse buildings at Blundell Street in Islington.
On 1 March last year, Brian Dolan was helping to install the solar panels, when he fell through a skylight and landed on a concrete floor five metres below. A pallet of flour in the warehouse partly broke his fall, but he suffered a number of serious injuries.
The 58-year-old fractured his skull in two places, broke five vertebrae and three ribs, and suffered hearing impairment. He was in hospital for two weeks and was unable to return to work for seven months owing to his injuries.
An investigation was carried out by the HSE, which found the company had failed to carry out an adequate risk assessment. There were no measures in place to prevent or mitigate a fall, such as safety netting beneath the skylights.
A Prohibition Notice was issued on the day of the incident and required the work to stop until proper fall-prevention measures were put in place.
HSE inspector Paul Hems said: “You would expect a company like Grenergy Solar Ltd that specialises in roof installations to be fully aware of the risks posed by working at height on, with, or near fragile surfaces, and to take the appropriate safety precautions.
“Mr Dolan suffered terrible injuries in a wholly preventable, yet depressingly frequent, incident, and it is imperative that effective measures are put in place at all times to prevent, or mitigate falls.”
Grenergy Solar Ltd appeared in court on 29 May and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) and s3(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay £9041 in costs.
In mitigation, company said it had no previous convictions and cooperated with the investigation. It subsequently put safety nets underneath the skylights and also placed barriers around the fragile areas.
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