Roofing firm in court after teenager breaks back in fall

Roofing firm in court after teenager breaks back in fall

A building firm has been fined £10,000 after a 17-year-old mental health patient broke her back and pelvis when she fell over six metres from the roof of the Royal Preston Hospital in Fullwood.

W Hughes and Son Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the company had failed to prevent access to the scaffolding on the site.

Preston Magistrates’ Court heard that the firm had been hired to replace the flat roof on a single-storey section of the hospital. It use scaffolding to reach the roof but failed to properly fence off the steps leading up the scaffolding tower.

The 17-year-old, who was staying in the hospital’s Mental Health Unit, was able to climb the scaffolding on 17 October 2013. She fell from the roof in the gap between two buildings and the emergency services had to remove a hospital window to free her. She was in hospital for several weeks as a result of her injuries.

W Hughes and Son Ltd, of Collinson Street in Preston, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £516 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.