Window cleaning company fined after fall from height

A window cleaning company has been sentenced after a worker suffered bone fractures following a fall through a fragile roof light.

Window cleaning company fined after fall from height1The incident occurred when three operatives were cleaning a 400-panel solar array on the pig shed roof at Lingham Lane Piggery, Dishforth in February 2016. The men had nearly finished the job when one of them walked up the roof towards the apex. He was not aware of the fragile roof light and walked on to it. The roof light broke, and he fell more than seven metres to the floor of the barn.

The HSE’s investigation found the company failed to ensure that the risks from working at height had been minimised.

Premier Window Cleaners Ltd Greenacres, Huntington, York pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The company was been fined £6,000 with costs of £819.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Rachel Brittain commented: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices. If the work had been carried out from an elevated work platform with harnesses and lanyards, falls from height would have been mitigated.