Firm fined after worker injury fall
09/08/2011
A Mansfield mechanical engineering company has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,366 after a subcontractor suffered serious back injuries after falling through a roof in an accident at work.
Mechanical Solutions Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 after the roofer was injured at a large industrial building at Cotes Park Lane, Somercotes, Derbyshire.
Self-employed Michael Hawkins, 23, of Rotherham, has been unable to work since he fell approximately six metres through a fragile roof in the incident on June 16, 2009.
Mr Hawkins had to undergo six operations in as many months, including a large skin graft on his back.
He had been sub-contracted by the company, of Acorn Business Park, Commercial Gate, which had been hired by the building owner to cover the asbestos cement roof with steel cladding.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told Derby Magistrates' Court that Mechanical Solutions Ltd failed to ensure that the work was properly planned, appropriately supervised or carried out in a safe manner.
The HSE served a Prohibition Notice after the incident preventing a return to work on or near the fragile roof until a safe system was in place to prevent further injury.
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