A property development company based in Gwent has been prosecuted following a series of safety failings which put the lives of its workers at risk.
Formaction Ltd was working on the installation of a new roof unit at The Gulf Works on Penarth Road in Cardiff in June 2013, when the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was informed about risky working practices by a member of the public.
A passerby had seen that the firm was allowing three workers to carry out the installation while standing on a fragile pitched roof that stood between five and eight metres above the ground.
There were no safety precautions in place to prevent the workers from falling through the roof, or slipping off the edge of the roof onto the ground below. The HSE carried out an investigation which led to work being stopped immediately at the site until the correct safety procedures had been put into place.
The investigation also found that no safety harnesses were worn by any of the workers while the work at height was taking place. Safe access to the roof was also lacking, the investigation found, with the HSE confirming that staging boards and guard rails should have been in place.
Formaction Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 6(3) and 9(2) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £3,000 plus costs of £1,323 at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court. The firm’s director, Derek Bawn, pleaded guilty to breaching the same regulations through Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £6,000 plus costs of £1,323.
HSE Inspector, Liam Osborne said: “The workers were deliberately exposed to serious danger because of the serious neglect of safety precautions. Carrying out roof work, especially on a fragile surface without anything to stop people falling through, or off, a roof is very dangerous and is an extreme risk to take.”
“The dangers of working at height are well known in the roofing industry yet poor safety standards and lack of safeguards still exist among some contractors”, he added.
Meanwhile, District Judge Bodfan Jenkins confirmed: “This was a death waiting to happen and was a very serious dereliction of duty”.