A Surrey roofing company has been fined for unsafe work at height after concerned members of the public spotted workers walking on a fragile roof without any fall protection.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated complaints about the work at Bredegar Road in Gillingham on 19 March 2012 and prosecuted Industrial Roofing (Surrey) Limited for placing employees in unnecessary danger.

Medway Magistrates' Court heard the Guildford-based firm had been sub-contracted to replace and repair gutters on a former industrial building.

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When a HSE inspector arrived at the site he saw clear evidence of work on the roofline without any precautions in place to prevent or mitigate a fall to the concrete floor below, a distance of some seven metres in places.

A Prohibition Notice was served to prevent any further work on the roof until appropriate safeguards were in place, such as work platforms, coverings, guard rails and edge protection.

Subsequent video footage obtained by HSE showed workers casually walking along the roof, which was made of asbestos cement sheeting and was clearing signed as being 'fragile'.

An Improvement Notice was also served requiring employees to undergo formal work at height training. Neither this or the earlier notice were contested by the company and improvements were belatedly made.

Industrial Roofing (Surrey) Limited, of Belmont Avenue, Guildford, but no longer trading after being compulsory wound up, was fined a total of £13,400 and ordered to pay £9,167 in costs after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

(CD/MH)