Craig Dickson broke ‘every bone in [his] face’, hands and wrists after falling 10m through a roof onto a concrete floor
CK Steelwork & Cladding Ltd have been fined £16,000 after a 39-year-old man fell 10m through the roof of an industrial unit, suffering multiple fractures.
CK Steelwork & Cladding Ltd were the contractor undertaking work on the roof of the building at Heathlands Industrial Estate, Kingmoor Park, Carlisle, which was known to be fragile.
Safety nets were being installed in the area below the work site, but had not been completely erected at the time of the accident on 25 March 2022.
The company failed to adequately prepare for the risks of working at a height
Mr Dickson was taken onto the fragile roof by a supervisor to assess the job, despite the fact that the safety nets were not fully in place.
While crossing a part of the roof that was unprotected by the nets, Mr Dickson stepped on a weak skylight and the man fell 10m head-first onto the concrete floor underneath.
Mr Dickson severely damaged his knee, lost four teeth and shattered most of the bones in his hands, face and wrists in the incident. Since then, he has spent six weeks in intensive care, five months confined in a wheelchair and endured constant pain.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that CK Steelwork & Cladding Ltd of Barras Lane Estate, Dalston, Carlisle, had failed to take appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of workers on the roof.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. They were fined £16,000 and were ordered to pay £4,462.59 in costs at a hearing at Carlisle Magistrates Court on 31 August 2023.
‘Life changing injuries’ could have been prevented
After 17 months, Craig Dickson is still unable to work and will never be able to resume his former profession. In a victim impact statement, Mr Dickson spoke about how his injuries left him with “zero confidence and major anxiety”, no sense of smell and difficulty breathing through his nose.
“Before my accident I was a very physically and mentally active person and attended the gym on a daily basis and was a keen fell walker and liked to socialise. I am now left in severe pain and now have anxiety and I’m always anxious and find it hard, if not impossible to do anything like I did before the accident.”
After the hearing, HSE inspector Michael Griffiths said: “This was a very serious incident, and it is fortunate Craig wasn’t killed.
“Work on fragile roofs should be planned and controlled, otherwise there is a very high likelihood of a potentially fatal fall, or one resulting in life changing injuries, as we have seen in this case.”
You can read HSE’s guidance on safely working from a height here.
