Contractor’s roof fall

Three companies have been fined a total of £336,000 after a worker fell six and a half metres through a fragile rooflight at a factory in Dundee.

Christopher Carson, 23, was working as an electrician’s labourer for Robert A.S. Crockett and Partners Ltd, when the incident took place on 3 October 2008. The company had been contracted by Electroguard Security Systems to fit a lighting system as part of a larger project at Dundee Cold Stores Ltd’s factory at Kingsway West, Dundee.?

Mr Carson was attaching cables to the wall of the building as part of the installation of a new security system. One of the cables he needed was located on the roof of the building, so he used a mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) to access the roof. Once he had retrieved the cable he walked back towards the MEWP and stepped on a fragile rooflight, which broke, causing him to fall through. He hit machinery inside the factory during his descent, before landing on a concrete floor.

He sustained multiple fractures in his back and dislocated his left shoulder. He had a drill bit in his pocket, which punctured his lower back during the fall. Despite undergoing surgery to reattach three tendons to his shoulder, he still suffers chronic back and shoulder pain.

The HSE’s investigation learned that Dundee Cold Stores had not asked either contractor for written risk assessments or method statements. Electroguard had carried out a site risk assessment for working at height, but this was not specific to the roof and had not been shared with Crockett and Partners.

The investigation also found that Mr Carson had not been given any information or training by his employer to help him identify that the roof was fragile. Inspectors also learned that Dundee Cold Stores did not carry out any safety inductions before contractors started work on site, and no safety meetings took place once the work had started to ensure the work was being carried out safely.

HSE inspector Harry Bottesch said: “Mr Carson has suffered significant and lasting injuries because his employer left him to work at height unsupervised and without clear instructions about what work he was expected to do, and how he was to do it. Nor was there any safe system of work in place to allow him to work safely at height.

“Where rooflights are present, it should be assumed that the area is fragile to walk on. If these three companies had thought about the obvious risks involved, and planned the work properly then Mr Carson’s injuries – and the impact they have had on his life ever since – could have been avoided.”

All three companies appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court and were sentenced on 24 January. Robert A.S. Crockett and Partners pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974 and was fined £66,000. Electroguard Security Systems and Dundee Cold Stores both pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the same Act and were each fined £135,000. No costs are awarded in cases heard in Scotland.