A roofing contractor has been prosecuted after carrying out unsafe work at height at a property in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

Chris Smith of Clarkson Court, Malpas Road Northallerton North Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at height Regulations 2005. He was given an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service. In addition, he was also ordered to pay £5,800 in costs.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Mr Smith, trading as C Smith Roofing, was contracted to carry out roof repairs to a guest house roof in Northallerton on November 2015.

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While scaffolding was erected along the full length of the roof at the front of the property, due to the presence of a conservatory structure at the rear the company only erected a partial scaffold at the rear. It did not take the conservatory into account, which left around two thirds of the rear roof edge unprotected.

In February 2016, health and safety risk managers at North Yorkshire County Council could see the project from their office window and had concerns about the safety of the two workers on a roof where there were inadequate fall protection measures in place, such as scaffolding.

Two employees were at risk of falling around seven metres from the unprotected edge of the roof at the rear of the property.

HSE inspector Tania Shiffer said: "Work at height, such as roof work, is a high-risk activity that accounts for a high proportion of workplace serious injuries and fatalities each year.

"There were not suitable or sufficient measures in place to prevent the risk of a person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.

"This is a good example of HSE working closely with local authority partners, helping Great Britain work well."

(LM/MH)