Roofing boss prosecuted for worker’s fall

A self-employed businessman has been prosecuted after his employee fell from the flat roof of a building and died from his injuries.

Manchester Crown Court heard how, on 22 December 2013, father of two, Jason Fogarty, a casual employee of Roy Hardaker (trading as 9 to 5 Roofing), was working on a flat roof replacement project. He was working alongside. Hardaker.

The roof replacement was complete and the men were installing cladding and flashing around the top of the building to seal the edges of the roof. Mr. Fogarty was holding the cladding sheets in position from a ladder footed by his colleague, while Hardaker secured the sheets and the flashing from the roof.

Mr. Fogarty climbed up onto the roof and subsequently fell from the edge and was pronounced dead at the scene. The reason for him climbing to the roof was not discovered.

A joint investigation carried out by Greater Manchester Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the work was not properly planned in order to ensure it could be carried out safely. As a result, there were no measures in place, such as scaffold edge protection, to prevent falls from the edges of the roof.

HSE inspector Laura Moran said after the hearing: “The dangers associated with working at height are well known.

“Mr. Hardaker is an experienced roofer, who completely failed in his duties to properly plan the roof work and to ensure it was carried out safely. By failing to have suitable edge protection installed around the building, Mr. Hardaker put himself and his employees at risk, ultimately costing Mr. Fogarty his life.”

Roy Hardaker 9 to 5 Roofing, of Oldham, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years and 200 hours of unpaid work