Two men have been fined after a worker suffered serious injuries when he fell through a fragile warehouse roof in Poole.

Bradley White suffered four broken bones in the bottom of his back, a broken hip and pelvis, a shattered femur, four fractures to his left arm, a fractured right wrist and ligament damage. He was in hospital for three weeks and has had to undergo numerous operations.

The 27-year-old had been employed by Michael Davies to replace the roof on a large industrial unit at W & S Recycling on Nuffield Industrial Estate in Poole, which is owned and occupied by Geoff Thompson.


Mr Davies and Mr Thompson were both prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found they had failed to make sure the work could be carried out safely.

Bournemouth Magistrates' Court heard that Mr White had been walking on the fragile cement roof on 27 March 2012 when his foot went through one of the fragile sheets. He landed on the concrete floor about six metres below.

An HSE investigation found there was no edge protection, safety netting or any other measure in place at the site to stop Mr White falling or to prevent him from being injured.

Michael Davies, of Kingston Road in Poole, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 by failing to ensure workers were not put a risk. He was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,000.

Geoff Thompson, who trades as W & S Recycling, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9 of the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2007 by failing to ensure the arrangements made for managing the project were suitable. Mr Thompson, of Nuffield Road in Poole, was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.

(CD/JP)