Lion Steel Equipment Limited has become only the third UK company to be convicted under the Corporate Manslaughter Act and has been fined £480,000 plus legal costs.

The firm was prosecuted after the death of a maintenance worker at its factory in Hyde, Greater Manchester. It pleaded guilty to the charge.

Steven Berry, 45, was fixing a factory roof in May 2008 when he fell 40ft (12m) through a perspex sheet and onto a hard stone floor below.

An investigation carried out by Greater Manchester Police and the Health and Safety Executive found that no risk assessment had been carried out before Mr Berry went up to fix the roof. It also discovered that he had not been offered any safety training and had not been provided with the correct equipment or supervision for the job.

Philip Liptrot. from Thompsons Solicitors’ Serious Injury Team in Manchester said “Implementing and following robust health and safety procedures saves lives and shortcuts should never be taken when working at height is involved. With just a very small effort of carrying out a risk assessment this man may not have lost his life and his employer would not have found itself in the dock, pleading guilty to the corporate manslaughter charge.”