Southampton Crown Court heard how a roofer unnecessarily lost his life after falling through a rooflight.

Carl Pearson, 42, had been contracted by a cladding refurbishment company, Cladcoat UK Ltd who sub-contracted to TRN Electrical Ltd.

On the 1st December 2007 Mr Pearson was replacing damaged rooflights as part of remedial work on a building on Wharfdale Road in Bournemouth.

The firm failed to identify the fragile state of the roof, and no fall prevention or fall mitigation had been put in place.

Mr Pearson subsequently fell approximately six metres through a rooflight sustaining fatal head injuries.

He sadly died in hospital the following day.

Wholly preventable incident

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuting told the court that an inadequate risk assessment and method statement had been produced, this failure ultimately led to Mr Pearson working on the fragile roof.

TRN Electrical who obtained the original contract, were fined £30,000 plus costs totalling £14,850. Cladcoat UK Ltd were fined £10,000 with no additional costs, while the director of Cladcoat UK Ltd was given a conditional discharge.

Both firms pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws.

Speaking after the hearing, Health and Safety Executive Inspector Frank Flannery said: "This was a wholly preventable incident in which a man in his prime - a father-of-two - lost his life. This incident was not the result of the actions of an individual; rather it is the result of collective failures".

Clare Mellor, a solicitor at Thompsons Solicitors’ Serious Injuries Team said: “These companies effectively paid lip service to risks of working at height which are well known and well publicised”.

Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2011/coi-sw-trnelectricaljeremywalton.htm