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Building firm that ignored HSE advice fined £145,000
04 November 2011
A Manchester-based building company has been fined £145,000 after an employee fell through a fragile roof and died two years later from post-traumatic epilepsy.
Alan Kerwin was working for J Mills (Contractors) Ltd when the incident took place on 31 March 2007. The company had been contracted to replace a skylight at a warehouse in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Manchester Crown court heard that Mr Kerwin was on the roof with two colleagues when he stepped on fragile cement that surrounded the rooflight. The cement shattered and he fell through the roof and landed on a concrete floor ten metres below. He suffered a fractured skull and developed post-traumatic epilepsy as a result of his injuries. He later died from an epileptic seizure in April 2009.
The HSE had given information to Mr Kerwin’s line manager only a week before the incident on how to safely manage work on fragile roofs. But this advice had not been acted upon and the HSE’s subsequent investigation found that no risk assessment had been carried out before the work started and no safety measures were put in place to prevent workers from falling through the fragile roof.
The company was issued with an Improvement Notice on 2 April 2007, which required work to stop until action was taken to protect workers from falling through the roof. HSE inspector David Norton said: “Falls from height remain the biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of serious injury. But Mr Kerwin was allowed to walk across a roof without anything in place to stop him falling.
“Just one week before, Mr Kerwin’s line manager was advised by a colleague of mine about the dangers of working at height, and how to protect employees. If he had acted on this advice then I’m confident Mr Kerwin would still be alive today.”
J Mills (Construction) Ltd appeared in court on 31 October and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. In addition to the fine, it was ordered to pay £7700 in costs.
In mitigation, the company said it had no previous convictions and fully cooperated with the investigation while entering an early guilty plea.
After the hearing, inspector Norton added: “This is a tragic case, in which someone has lost their father, as a result of an entirely avoidable incident.”
04 November 2011
A Manchester-based building company has been fined £145,000 after an employee fell through a fragile roof and died two years later from post-traumatic epilepsy.
Alan Kerwin was working for J Mills (Contractors) Ltd when the incident took place on 31 March 2007. The company had been contracted to replace a skylight at a warehouse in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Manchester Crown court heard that Mr Kerwin was on the roof with two colleagues when he stepped on fragile cement that surrounded the rooflight. The cement shattered and he fell through the roof and landed on a concrete floor ten metres below. He suffered a fractured skull and developed post-traumatic epilepsy as a result of his injuries. He later died from an epileptic seizure in April 2009.
The HSE had given information to Mr Kerwin’s line manager only a week before the incident on how to safely manage work on fragile roofs. But this advice had not been acted upon and the HSE’s subsequent investigation found that no risk assessment had been carried out before the work started and no safety measures were put in place to prevent workers from falling through the fragile roof.
The company was issued with an Improvement Notice on 2 April 2007, which required work to stop until action was taken to protect workers from falling through the roof. HSE inspector David Norton said: “Falls from height remain the biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of serious injury. But Mr Kerwin was allowed to walk across a roof without anything in place to stop him falling.
“Just one week before, Mr Kerwin’s line manager was advised by a colleague of mine about the dangers of working at height, and how to protect employees. If he had acted on this advice then I’m confident Mr Kerwin would still be alive today.”
J Mills (Construction) Ltd appeared in court on 31 October and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. In addition to the fine, it was ordered to pay £7700 in costs.
In mitigation, the company said it had no previous convictions and fully cooperated with the investigation while entering an early guilty plea.
After the hearing, inspector Norton added: “This is a tragic case, in which someone has lost their father, as a result of an entirely avoidable incident.”
