A Middlesex-based roofing company has been prosecuted after a worker fell through a roof during work on a construction site in Hertfordshire.

Richardson Roofing Company Limited (RRCL), of Richardson House, Moor Lane, Staines, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was fined £200,000 with £6,885 in costs.

St Albans Crown Court heard the 32-year-old worker was working for RRCL on a construction site at Kingsley Green in Radlett on 08 August 2013.


The labourer was fitting battens on the roof around holes for the skylights when he stepped on a membrane covering one of the holes and fell around five metres. His injuries included two broken wrists and four fractures to the skull.

He spent 15 days in hospital and has not been able to return to this type of work.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the hole had been previously covered by boards but these were later removed in order to complete the works up to hole's edge, leaving the hole visually obscured by the thin roofing membrane. The company failed to properly identify and put in place controls for controlling the hazard of falling through the roof once the boards were removed.

(LM)