A company and a director have been prosecuted after a worker fell from a roof and suffered serious injuries.

Prior Homes Limited of Station Road, Gillingham, has been fined £9,334 with over £6,398 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Paul Prior has been sentenced to eight weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to breaching section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

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Westminster Magistrates' Court heard how two mean were removing panels on a fragile roof when one of them fell round five metres to the floor below.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Prior Homes had failed to plan the work on the roof or to carry out this work safely. In addition Director Paul Prior, who was personally in charge of this work, had consented to unsafe working practices associated with working on a fragile roof.

Speaking after the case, HSE principal inspector Keith Levart said: "Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work fatalities and serious injuries in this country. The risks associated with working at height are well-known.

"Prior Homes Limited and Paul Prior had established an unsafe and poorly planned working practice which lead to a serious injury to one of the workers, and have today been held to account for failing to take adequate action to protect the health and safety of persons working on their site."

(LM/MH)