Builders liability insurance customers should take measures to protect people working at height as another company is prosecuted following an employee fall.
Webber Trading of Keighley Mill, Burnley and director Jeffrey Robinson were both fined at Gateshead magistrates court after an incident in Gateshead in 2007.
The firm pleaded guilty to charges under Section 3(1) and 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined nearly £3,000, while Mr Robinson, who was present at the time of the incident, was fined £1,215 after he pleaded guilty to the same charges.
The court heard how Lucasz Czuba, 26, of Newcastle, was working on the roof of a building at Shoe City in Gateshead when he stepped on an unprotected plastic rooflight and fell seven metres to the warehouse floor, sustaining serious injuries.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Martin Smith said that it was clear that the director and the company failed to recognise the risks posed in working on fragile roofs.
Builders liability insurance customers were recently given a warning by the HSE after a company was fined nearly £30,000.
Response Roofing of Ilkley pleaded guilty to three charges under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, after an employee fractured his skull in a four metre fall.