Property Management Client fined

Failure to check competence and properly plan work led to contractor death

Estate agents Morris, Marshall & Poole have been fined after a maintenance contractor died when he fell from a roof in Wales whilst carrying out minor repairs to the carport and gutter of a bungalow on Little Henfaes Drive in Welshpool.

Chester Crown Court heard that, on 10 August 2010, the workman was moving across a plastic roof which gave way causing him to fall 2m from the roof of the carport to the ground below.

HSE investigators found that the agents failed to ensure the work was properly planned and organised, or that the contractor was competent to carry out the work. Property management firms must ensure contractor competence

Morris, Marshall & Poole, Welshpool, who managed the property on behalf of the landlord  pleaded guilty to breaching HSW Act 1974 Section 3(1) and were fined £75,000 and ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £11,153.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Chris Wilcox said: “Roger Jary might be alive today if simple safety measures had been put in place. Morris, Marshall & Poole had a duty to ensure the safety of those they employed – whether working directly for them or not.

If your business is managing properties then you must ensure that anyone you engage to maintain those properties is competent and carries out their work safely to ensure their safety and that of others.”