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Contractor and roofing firm fined after worker injured in fall from height
Cristina Lago Deputy Editor
A contractor and a roofing company have been fined a combined £8,500 after a worker fell through a roof while working on a house extension.
The man was employed by Roofrite (Shropshire) Ltd, which had been appointed by principal contractor Harding and Houlston Building Contractors to install the roof on the property.
On 9 December 2022, while working on the roof, the man accidentally stepped into an area where there was an opening for a window that was yet to be installed. He fell through the hole to the ground below, suffering fractures to his spine and ribs.
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An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that although external scaffold had been put into place around the perimeter of the extension to allow workers access to the roof, there were no measures in place internally to prevent falls into the extension and to the ground.
Failure to plan
The HSE investigation found that Roofrite (Shropshire) had failed to properly plan the work and to provide its workers with suitable instructions for carrying out their duties safely.
Harding and Houlston Building Contractors had also failed to ensure that the roof work had been properly planned, and failed to carry out any monitoring of the work that was being completed by the roofers on the site, which was under its control.
Roofrite (Shropshire) Ltd, of Atcham Business Park, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, pleaded guilty to breaching three charges of Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £8,000. It was ordered to pay costs of £2,990 at a hearing at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on 19 May 2025.
Harding and Houlston Building Contractors Ltd, of Emstrey House North, Shrewsbury Business Park, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. It was fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,990 at the same hearing.
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