Race Interiors has been fined £60,000 with costs of £7,784 after an employee fell through a skylight roof.

Petros Pogosyan, 55, fell though a skylight from a unit roof at Roseberry Industrial Estate, London on 18 January 2013.

Mr Pogosyan, from Armenia, fell four and a half metres onto a concrete floor.

He suffered life changing injuries, including a fractured back. He is now partially deaf, has damage to his brain, is paralysed from the waist down and psychologically traumatised.

Mr Pogosyan will need personal care for the rest of his life.

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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Race Interiors at Southwark Crown Court.

Judge May QC described the accident as 'highly foreseeable' and decided that the company 'fell far short' of the required standards for managing risks at work.

Race Interiors pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

In an unusual move, the fine was converted into a compensation order to be paid directly to Mr Pogosyan.

The judge described this as 'an exceptional case', as Race Interiors are in a dispute with its insurance company and the victim is unlikely to receive compensation for his injuries.

HSE Inspector Simon Hester said: "This tragedy should not have happened. Nobody should work on a roof without proper planning.

"It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that all reasonable precautions are taken to prevent a fall. Mr Pogosyan could have been killed by his fall and now suffers massive and irreversible life-changing injuries."

(LM)