Victim who plummeted five and half metres through a single skin roof broke ribs and was unable to work for a year

A construction firm has been fined after a worker fell, breaking several ribs.

Keen Construction from Salisbury pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 in December 2008, and was today fined £6,600. The firm was also ordered to pay costs of £3,625.

The investigation followed an incident in Berkshire in September 2007, in which a worker fell five and a half metres through a fragile single skin asbestos cement roof.

The victim, who had been a self-employed worker, had been replacing leaking roof lights when he fell. There were no crawling boards in use and no safety net or crash desk below the working area of the roof.

He suffered broken ribs and injuries to his vertebrae, pelvis and lung. He was unable to return to work for more than a year.

Meurig Rees Williams, an HSE inspector, said: "By any standards, this was a very serious incident. The injured worker suffered long-term injuries after falling five and a half metres and is lucky to be alive.

"There are safe ways of carrying out this work and guidance is freely available on the HSE website."

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