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Satellite firm fined £1 for roof death
18 August 2011
A satellite-television installation company, which is no longer trading, has been fined £1 following the death of a worker who fell from the roof of a four-storey house.
The Old Bailey heard that engineer Noel Corbin, 29, was working for Foxtel Ltd when the incident took place on 3 February 2008. The company, which had a contract to carry out repairs on Sky TV and satellite faults, sent Mr Corbain was sent to a property in Belsize Park, London to fix two faulty satellite dishes.
Mr Corbin was working on a dish on the property's roof apex, which he had accessed via a dormer window. Before his fall he was also seen working on another satellite dish located on a flat roof. There were no witnesses to his fall but it is thought that he slipped while walking across the sloping part of the roof and fell 13.5 metres, landing on a side patio. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The HSE’s investigation found that no risk assessment had been carried out before the work commenced and Mr Corbin had not been issued with a harness. HSE inspector Charles Linfoot told SHP that the company should have accompanied Mr Corbin on a site visit to carry out a site-specific risk assessment, once it was established that the building had more than two storeys.
The inspector also revealed that the company had not requested any references from Mr Corbin when it first employed him, nor did it ask him to present any training certificates. It also failed to supervise any of his site visits to assess his competence.
Inspector Linfoot said: “Mr Corbin's death has had a devastating effect on his family – made all the more tragic because the incident was easily preventable. Owing to the foreseeable risk of falling and the lack of suitable access equipment, the work should have been cancelled.
"Foxtel should have carried out a full site-specific risk assessment, planning and organising the work to be executed in a safe manner. It is not acceptable to simply delegate health and safety duties to employees without adequate instruction, training, monitoring, or supervision.”
Foxtel Ltd ceased trading in June and appeared in court on 12 August to plead guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. As it has no assets the court fined the company £1.
In mitigation, the company said it had fully cooperated with the investigation and had a previously unblemished safety record. It also said that before it ceased trading it had provided staff with work-at-height training and employed additional field managers to carry out site inspections.
After the hearing Inspector Linfoot added: “I hope the conviction of Foxtel Ltd sends a clear message to other installation companies in London and elsewhere that, where access to residential properties from height is required, companies are ultimately responsible for carrying out a full site-specific risk assessment."
18 August 2011
A satellite-television installation company, which is no longer trading, has been fined £1 following the death of a worker who fell from the roof of a four-storey house.
The Old Bailey heard that engineer Noel Corbin, 29, was working for Foxtel Ltd when the incident took place on 3 February 2008. The company, which had a contract to carry out repairs on Sky TV and satellite faults, sent Mr Corbain was sent to a property in Belsize Park, London to fix two faulty satellite dishes.
Mr Corbin was working on a dish on the property's roof apex, which he had accessed via a dormer window. Before his fall he was also seen working on another satellite dish located on a flat roof. There were no witnesses to his fall but it is thought that he slipped while walking across the sloping part of the roof and fell 13.5 metres, landing on a side patio. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The HSE’s investigation found that no risk assessment had been carried out before the work commenced and Mr Corbin had not been issued with a harness. HSE inspector Charles Linfoot told SHP that the company should have accompanied Mr Corbin on a site visit to carry out a site-specific risk assessment, once it was established that the building had more than two storeys.
The inspector also revealed that the company had not requested any references from Mr Corbin when it first employed him, nor did it ask him to present any training certificates. It also failed to supervise any of his site visits to assess his competence.
Inspector Linfoot said: “Mr Corbin's death has had a devastating effect on his family – made all the more tragic because the incident was easily preventable. Owing to the foreseeable risk of falling and the lack of suitable access equipment, the work should have been cancelled.
"Foxtel should have carried out a full site-specific risk assessment, planning and organising the work to be executed in a safe manner. It is not acceptable to simply delegate health and safety duties to employees without adequate instruction, training, monitoring, or supervision.”
Foxtel Ltd ceased trading in June and appeared in court on 12 August to plead guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. As it has no assets the court fined the company £1.
In mitigation, the company said it had fully cooperated with the investigation and had a previously unblemished safety record. It also said that before it ceased trading it had provided staff with work-at-height training and employed additional field managers to carry out site inspections.
After the hearing Inspector Linfoot added: “I hope the conviction of Foxtel Ltd sends a clear message to other installation companies in London and elsewhere that, where access to residential properties from height is required, companies are ultimately responsible for carrying out a full site-specific risk assessment."
