Near Miss After Roof Collapse But Not for Director

A DIRECTOR of a construction company was sentenced on Tuesday (6 November) after the partial collapse of a building during roofing work.

On 24 February 2016, Jason Lycett, a Director of Brooke Ren Limited, the principal contracter, was responsible for constructing two, two-storey blocks of flats at Church Street, Barnsley, following the demolition of a former public house. Timber roof structures had been constructed for each block, but had not been completely tiled.

Near Miss After Roof Collapse

Three roofers had been working on the roof of Block B, transferring roof tiles from ground level using a tile hoist and distributing the tiles over the surface of the roof, when the tile hoist broke down. Two roofers had come down from the roof and a third was descending a ladder from a scaffold when the roof structure collapsed, demolishing a small wall at eaves level and distorting the scaffold. There were no injuries. However, had it not been for the breakdown of the tile hoist, the workers would have been on the roof at the time of its collapse.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had been informed during the pre-construction phase that the roof structure needed to be designed by a specialist, but this did not happen until after the incident. At the time of the collapse, the structure was not able to withstand the loads which had been applied to it.

Brook Ren Limited pleaded guilty to an offence under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and Jason Lycett was found guilty of breaching Health and Safety at Work and was fined £30,000 with £7,026.58 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Alan Sheldon said: “Principal contractors have an important role in managing health and safety risks during the construction phase, so they must have the skills, knowledge, experience and, where relevant, organisational capability to carry out this work.

“Where directors are found to be negligent in carrying out their roles they, too, may face legal proceedings associated with the same health and safety management failings.  Although there were no injuries, matters could have been very different had the workers still been on the roof at the time of its collapse.”

>> Read about more roofing court cases in the news