Roofer fined for safety breach
February 25th 14:38 Health and Safety
Roofing businesses should heed health and safety regulations in order to protect their employees.
This is the message being sent out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the prosecution of a Leicestershire-based roofer.
Dean Paul Shaw, who trades as Streamline Guttering and Cladding, was fined £4,950 and ordered to pay £1,314.40 costs by Loughborough Magistrates after pleading guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
The HSE explained that the fine was imposed after an investigation found that Mr Shaw had allowed work to take place without ensuring that adequate safety equipment was being used.
Mhairi Lockwood, an inspector for he department, said: "All three workers were walking across the roof - which also had fragile roof lights - to work on the back of the premises where there was no protection to stop them from falling.
"There was also a sharp palisade fence below which could have caused horrific injuries if anyone had fallen on it. Falls from height cause more workplace deaths than anything else."
