A roofing boss fined £10,000 after workers removed roof tiles without scaffolding or safety barriers.
IOSH reported that Dan Shea of Blackmoor Roofing, of Liss, Hampshire bought used tiles from a demolition firm dismantling a house in Surrey. This was on the agreement his firm would remove them.
Staines Magistrates’ Court heard that a neighbour over the road from the property in Esher informed the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) when he saw workers removing roof tiles unsafely in Wayneflete Tower Avenue.
One man was reported to be standing on the wet roof with no safety or scaffolding, a second took tiles off while standing in the raised bucket of a digger, and a third threw wall tiles to the ground from the top of a long ladder.
Shea was found by the HSE to have sent three Polish labourers to the site to remove the tiles but later said they began work earlier than agreed. The HSE has not been able to contact any of the workers since the incident on 8 February 2010.
Source: IOSH
