Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Window cleaning company fined after worker injured in fall from height
A window cleaning company has been fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £819 in costs, having been found guilty of safety breaches after a worker suffered bone fractures following a fall through a fragile roof light.
Leeds Magistrates' Court heard how, in February 2016, three operatives were cleaning a 400-panel solar array on the pig shed roof at Lingham Lane Piggery, Dishforth. 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.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive found that the company failed to ensure that the risks from working at height had been minimised.
Premier Window Cleaners Greenacres, Huntington, York, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
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."
For the HSE's guide on window cleaning at height, visit:
23rd May 2019