Director fined for health and safety breaches
April 21st 15:04 Health and Safety
Adam Stephen Walker, a director of manufacturing firm Stephen Walker and Sons, has been handed a £10,000 fine and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs after a worker carried out unsafe repairs to a factory roof and fell through a skylight.
After a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation, Mr Walker was fined by West Bromwich magistrates who heard that the employee was asked to conduct the work despite no risk assessment taking place and no specialist equipment being provided.
HSE inspector Amarjit Kalay said: "The failure of the company and Mr Walker to make adequate provisions for working on the roof left one of its employees with serious injuries and could easily have cost him his life.
"This incident could easily have been prevented by undertaking a suitable risk assessment and by using the necessary equipment to prevent a fall through the fragile roof."
Mr Walker pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
