Fall through skylight leads to Bradford firm prosecution

A company which manufactures signage and displays for high street retailer was sentenced this month for safety breaches after a worker fell to his death through a roof light.
The worker and a colleague were covering roof lights with blackout vinyl in June 2014 in an attempt to block out the sunlight to reduce the heat within the factory, when he fell 5.5 metres through a fragile roof light to the fabrications department below.
An investigation found that no precautions were in place to prevent falling through fragile roof material or off the open edge of the roof. The company also failed to adequately supervise the two workers, with several missed opportunities by a number of managers to stop them working on the roof.
Falls from height, particularly from roofs is the highest cause of fatal accidents, therefore as with all high risk tasks work should be planned, control measures implemented, and the tasks supervised.
Whiteghyll Plastics Ltd of City Road Bradford pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £120,000 with £37,655 costs by Bradford Crown Court.