Two years after construction worker Anthony Bradley fell to his death at a site in south London, two firms have been fined £5,000 each.
The defendants were Philip Drinkwater, who was trading as Prestige Roofing of Meldone Sheephouse Way, New Malden; and Dean Glen, trading as DDP Scaffolding of Woodroyd Avenue, Horley. The court heard that the fatal incident took place on 26 November 2018 at a terraced house on Rosevine Road, Wimbledon. Bradley and Drinkwater, who were co-workers, were working on the roof of the two-storey house. The roof was accessed via a ladder and scaffolding installed by Glen.
Drinkwater had asked Bradley to use an electric hoist and move some slates onto the roof when Bradley fell to his death. There was a 1.17-metre gap between the ladder access point and the hoist. Bradley fell from a height of 6 metres and died almost immediately.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the case and found that Glen had erected the scaffolding when not fully qualified to do so and it did not comply with industry standards or legal requirements. Mr Drinkwater was in charge of the roof work, which he allowed to proceed despite the gap and unsafe ladder access
HSE inspector Kevin Smith, in response to the hearing at Southwark Crown Court, said the accident could have been avoided with some low-cost changes: “Preventative measures were inexpensive and required little time or effort. Reducing the size of the opening in the guard rails and installing a self-closing scaffold gate would have stopped this man from falling to his death. A scaffold gate costs around £40 and only takes a few minutes to install,” he said.
Drinkwater and Glen both pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, which says that the the duty of health and safety extends to those who may not be employed by the same company but are affected by the risks. They were fined £5,000 each and ordered to pay costs of £6,318 each.
In the HSE’s latest report on workplace deaths for 2020/21, falling from height caused 35 deaths at UK workplaces.
DDP Scaffolding and Prestige Roofing both declined to comment.