Two companies have been fined more than £100,0000 after a construction worker fell through the roof of Graystone Action Sports Centre in Salford.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecutions after Nicolas Vilela fell 30 feet through a fragile skylight while working on the roof.
Mr Vilela suffered multiple injuries at the skate park on Brunel Avenue in Salford on 23 November 2022.
Mr Vilela, now 43, was fixing a solar panel on the roof when he took a step back and fell through one of the skylights into the skatepark.
He narrowly missed several people and suffered a partial lung collapse, broken ribs, pelvis, femur and left wrist, as well as fractures to his lower vertabrae.
Following the fall and sustained injuries, Mr Vilela spent a month in a hospital, which had affected him both physically and emotionally.
He said: “It has had an overwhelming and complicated impact on my life, having, until then, been a very active, dynamic person.”
HSE said that falls from height are a leading cause of workplace death,
Mr Vilela said: “A fall from a height of 10 metres is not something you survive.
“I broke my femur, pelvis, wrist, vertebrae and ribs. A lot worse could have happened but I am grateful for the fact that I am alive and can walk, but I will live with this trauma for the rest of my life.
“I have developed a fear of heights and a fear of any physical activity that could cause me harm. I am also really worried about how my body will respond in old age as a result of these injuries.
“I am unable to walk for more than a kilometre without feeling pain and getting very tired due to the loss of strength and mobility in my leg. My pelvic fracture impedes me from doing any heavy lifting and I live in fear of damaging it even more.”
HSE’s investigation found that H2O Renewables Limited was the principal contractor for the work to install solar panels to the roof, alongside Green Projects Limited as sub-contractor to fit the roof mounted system.
H2O planned the work at a time when it was aware of multiple fragile roof lights in close proximity to where the solar panels were being fitted.
The risk assessment stated cones and warning tape would be used as a control measure to warn operatives of the risk of falling through the fragile roof lights, as well as fixed scaffolding to prevent the risk of falls.
On 22 November 2022, the fixed scaffold was only partially erected and there were only cones next to the skylights.
Despite the insufficient control measures, GPL’s operatives were allowed to start work on fitting the solar panels, with the investigation further discovering that both companies failed to take suitable and sufficient precautions to maintain the safety of the workers on the roof.
Both companies also failed to have a safe system of work for the solar panels to be installed leading to the pair being fined.
H2O Renewables Limited, of Hazel Grove, Stockport, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 13(1) of the Construction Regulations 2015.
It was fined £106,720 and ordered to pay £4,995 costs at a hearing at Manchester Magistrates Court on 20 November 2024.
In the same hearing, Green Projects Limited of Albert Street, Oldham, also pleaded guilty to breaching regulatio 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was fined £13,340 and ordered to pay £1,600 costs.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Phil Redman said: “This was a very serious incident that Mr Vilela was extremely lucky to survive.
“A fall from this distance frequently results in life-changing injuries or death.
“It is a timely reminder that all work at height activities must be suitably planned, managed and monitored using a safe system of work.”
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