A demolition company has been fined for criminal safety failings, following a call from a whistleblower to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard how Nottingham-based Prodem Demolition and Asbestos Limited was removing roof tiles from a domestic property in July 2015, when the company was reported to the HSE for undertaking unsafe work at height activity.
An investigation by the HSE into the incident, found workers on a steep roof had been removing tiles without any form of equipment or protection to prevent them from falling.
Lara Murray a health and safety law expert with Palmers, said: “The risks from such work are well known and should be controlled using simple but effective measures, but the company failed to protect its workers or, indeed members of the public who could also have been hurt, if a worker had, in turn, fallen on them.”
The court heard that the original plan had been to work from a basket of a mobile elevated work platform or cherry picker. However, the company did not follow their plan, putting the workers at significant risk of falling and risk of serious injury.
Prodem Demolition and Asbestos Limited, of Western Boulevard, Aspley, Nottinghamshire pleaded guilty to Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs of £765.
Lara added: “On this occasion, the company was extremely fortunate that no-one came to harm as a result of their reckless disregard for employee and public safety and the hefty fine demonstrates how seriously the HSE and the Courts view breaches of health and safety regulations.”