Safety Signs News

Maintenance firm's safety failings highlight warning signs importance

28th March 2011 | Warning Signs

Posted by Nicole Stevens.

Firms have been reminded of the need to have proper systems of work in place – such as health and safety signage – when undertaking work at height.

Recently, a maintenance company was fined for allowing workers to stand on a sloping roof to carry out repairs without sufficient protection equipment in place.

Canova UK, based in the Wirral, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 in a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Wirral Magistrates' Court heard that there was no scaffolding, edge protection or other safety equipment – like warning signs – in place to prevent workers being injured in a fall.

Two workers had been power-washing the roof of a bungalow to remove moss and other detritus more than four metres above the ground.

The company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,500 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Michael Hodge, said: "If either of the workers had slipped and fallen, they would have been seriously injured or even killed. We therefore had no other choice but to prosecute the company."

Last year, over 4,000 workers suffered major injuries because of falls from height, HSE figures show. ADNFCR-2754-ID-800477472-ADNFCR