27th January 2022
Company Fined £51,000 After Fatal Fall Through Fragile Asbestos Roof

What’s Happened?
A construction company has been sentenced after an employee was fatally injured in Liverpool when he fell six metres through a roof whilst working on a replacement roof project. This was a tragic incident, which resulted in a needless loss of life and could have easily been avoided by properly planning the work and ensuring appropriate safeguards were in place.
Investigation
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) ensured, which identified that the area accessed did not have safety nets fitted and that the employer failed to take reasonably practicable measures to reduce the risk to those working on the roof.
The risk of working on fragile roofs are well known and a similar incident was actually the third corporate manslaughter case in the UK back in 2012.
In Court
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the roofer Marius Andrus was completing snagging work on a replacement roof. The worker had accessed a part of the old roof made of fragile asbestos cement sheets, which gave way. He fell through the sheets to the ground below sustaining fatal injuries.
AJM Services (Midlands) Ltd of Llanfihangel, Llanfyllin, Powys pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £51,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.
Speaking after the hearing, the HSE inspector involved in the case said;
“Those in control of work at height have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working, which should include providing clear and comprehensive information for their workers and ensuring that they are adequately supervised.”