A roofing firm has pled guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for failing to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to its employees when working at heights after an employee fell through the roof light of a warehouse in Gorgie Park Road.
On 31 July 2013 three employees of Bristol-based Mitie Tilley Roofing Limited were engaged in carrying out patch repairs on the flat roof of the vacant warehouse in the west of the city.
The case was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive who found that the risk assessment was not appropriate for the task and the system of work was unsafe. The accident could have been avoided had reasonably practicable precautions been taken.
The company pled guilty to a breach of Regulation 4 of the Working At Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £10,000.
Gary Aitken, Head of the COPFS Health & Safety Division said, “This was an accident that resulted in severe injury to an employee and which could have been avoided if the appropriate protective measures had been in place at the time. Thankfully the employee has since made a full recovery and the company has introduced new risk assessments and has put into practice safe systems of work.”
