Director jailed following roofwork fatality
January 11, 2005
The managing director of a building company has been sentenced to a 16-month jail sentence following a health and safety prosecution brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The case, heard at Manchester crown court, followed a police-led joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the death of Mr Daryl Arnold on 11 June 2003.
Mr Arnold, aged 27, and several others had been employed by Mr Lee Harper, Managing Director of Harper Building Contractors Ltd, to remove and replace the roof of a warehouse on the Lynton industrial estate in Salford.
No safe system of work had been prepared before the work began and no safety precautions were in place at the time of the incident. Mr Arnold had never worked on a roof before.
Whilst working on the roof, Mr Arnold stepped backwards onto a fragile rooflight on an adjoining warehouse, which gave way. Mr Arnold fell approximately 6.75m, landing on the ground floor directly below. He died as a result of his injuries.
Mr Harper pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter and a breach of s.2 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974, which relates to the duty of employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees.
Commenting on the case, the HSE made the following points.
- There was a fundamental failure to recognise that the roof included fragile roof lights that will not bear a man’s weight.
- Equipment to prevent people falling through fragile materials is readily available and relatively cheap.
- A sensible, straightforward approach to health and safety in managing the risks on this job would have prevented the tragic death.
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