Worker plunged from roof after safety harness failed

Jul 4 2008 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A DEMOLITION company was fined £3000 at Perth Sheriff Court after a worker fell from a roof and plunged almost 20 feet onto a concrete floor below.

The court was told that Paul Duffy escaped with a fracture after the accident at one of the Scottish Crop Research Institute buildings at Invergowrie on July 12 last year.

Ironically, he had been brought in by Asbestos Removal Demolition Services (ARDS) Ltd because of his knowledge and experience in working at heights.

Procurator fiscal Helen Nisbet said that the company was engaged in removing asbestos roofing from the building.

ARDS had sub-contracted that work to Mr Duffy, of Safedem Demolition Ltd.

He was working with a safety harness, with a lanyard attached to concrete purlings on the roof frame.

The lanyard was only 1.8 metres long, however, and it needed to be unclipped from Mr Duff’s safety harness as he moved along the roof.

The accident took place while he was unattached and moving from one section to another.

He fell through a fragile roof light onto the floor below.

Defence Advocate Susan Duff insisted: “This is not a situation of the company being cavalier with the safety of individuals.

“It was not a case of them not having considered working at heights. Until this accident, the company had a perfect safety record and it has always been meticulous to ensure the safety of its employees.”

She acknowledged that the method of working they had chosen wasn’t the “safest” and immediately after the accident it was replaced with an inertia reel system.

That allowed movement on the roof without the lanyard being unclipped.

Ms Duff submitted that the breach of Health and Safety at Work regulations was at the “lower end” of the scale.

Sentencing the Dundee-based company, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “It seems to me the company did recognise the risks involved and took steps to address those risks.”