Father and Son Fined for Health and Safety Breach
A father and son have been fined a five-figure sum after one of their employees was caught on camera without sufficient safety equipment. Thomas Hallwood and his son Michael Hallwood of Cladding Coatings were overseeing a worker on an industrial roof unit in Nottingham when a member of the public reported them to the Health and Safety Executive, the organization that oversees issues of health and safety at work.
The worker was photographed without any edge protection or harnesses when he was attempting to undertake cleaning work on the roof, which featured numerous fragile roof lights, at Farrar Close, Newark, during the summer of last year.
Health and Safety Investigation Inspector Lee Greatorex revealed that falls from height were the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and that appropriate measures must always be taken to ensure staff are fully protected whilst working.
“Fortunately no one was injured on this occasion, but Mr Hallwood Senior, his son and their employees were at risk. This was a blatant disregard for health and safety which put people in danger. Roofing work requires careful planning and assessment of the risks involved. In this case employees were working without the correct equipment to protect them from falls.”
Mr Hallwood and his son, who are both based in Oldham, were fined £2,500 each and told to pay prosecution costs amounting to £2,604 earlier this month after pleading guilty to breaches of Section 4(1)(c) of the 2005 Work at Height Regulations.
