Club, contractor and director fined after workman falls 3m through roof
Premier League football club Aston Villa has been fined alongside their contractor and a director of the contracting company.
The prosecutions follows an incident in which a workman was injured following a fall through a fragile rooflight during the redevelopment of the club training ground. He fractured bones in his heels was off work for more than six months.
The contractor, Mechanical Cleansing Services, was engaged to drain fuel tanks on a roof during demolition of an old building on the site. Stratford-on-Avon Magistrates heard that the 34-year-old worker was cleaning the tanks and fell through a rooflight as proceeded towards a ladder providing access to the roof. An internal ladder was blocked and a director of the contactor decided to use a leaning ladder to provide access to the plant room on the roof. However, all parties failed to inform workers of the dangers or how to avoid the risk of falling through the fragile rooflights.
HSE inspector Carol Southerd said: “Work at height can be very dangerous if not properly planned and although the victim’s injuries were severe, they could have been much worse. “If the internal ladder had been used, then this incident would not have happened. A simple conversation with the club was all it would have taken to arrange for the blocked ladder to be cleared. “When working at height all workers must have adequate instruction, training and equipment. It is vital that risks are adequately assessed and managed before employees undertake tasks in hazardous locations. There was clear failure to warn the victim or his colleague of the dangerous condition of the roof or to provide safe access to the tank.”
