29th Aug, 2021 Read time 1 minute

Painter and decorator punished after work-related incident

One of the company’s employees stepped off a working platform and fell two and a half meters through the carport’s weak roof, resulting in a fine for the company.


 

On the 6th of July 2018, sole trader Neil Beattie and his employee were working on dismantling a wasps’ nest at a cottage in Daviot, Oldmeldrum, before painting the gable-end soffits above a carport, according to the evidence presented at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. After climbing a ladder to the roof and walking along an underlying structural beam, they came to rest on a working platform in the midst of the carport roofing structure. When the wasps’ nest was disturbed, one of the employees walked off the working platform and fell through the carport’s weak plastic ceiling, breaking his leg. He suffered head and back traumas, which resulted in permanent deformity and disfigurement.

Neil Beattie Limited was found to have failed to ensure that the work at height was adequately planned and as far as was reasonably possible, safe, according to the findings of an investigation carried out by HSE (the Health and Safety Executive). When his employee arrived on the working platform, he was compelled to cross an unstable roof that was not equipped with adequate edge protection.

After pleading guilty to a breach of Regulation 4(1)(a) and (c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, Neil Beattie of Nether Davah Place, Inverurie, Aberdeen was fined £2,650.00.

“The risks linked with working at height on a deteriorating roof are well known and falls from great heights continue to be one of the most prominent causes of work-related fatalities in our country.,” said a spokesperson after the hearing concluded. If a sound, safe system of work had been in place before the incident, the injuries received by the employee might have been avoided.”

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