A home improvements company has been fined after a worker was significantly injured falling from a garage roof and the company failed to report the incident for nine months.
Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 11 May 2015, an employee of Rock Home Improvements Limited was working on a garage roof when he fell 3.4 metres onto the driveway of an adjacent property. The employee suffered a fractured cheekbone, eye socket, ribs, left arm and a collapsed lung as a result.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company did not report the incident within the required timeframe, as it is legally obliged to do, and instead waited nine months which prevented a proper investigation.
Rock Home Improvements Limited of Longsight Road, Bury, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 (1) a of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) and has been fined £2,700 and ordered to pay costs of £1,000.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Seve Gomez-Aspron said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided had the company simply carried out correct control measures and safe working practices.
“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take out appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards”.