Two family farms, one in Wales, the other in Scotland, have this week been sentenced over health and safety failings that led to the avoidable death and injury of farm workers in falls. Both incidents took place over a year ago.  

Perthshire worker injured in fall from barn roof

Family partnership Messrs Finlay McGowan was fined £12,000 at Perth Sheriff Court on Tuesday (13 May) after a worker was injured when he fell more than three metres through the roof light of a cattle barn. James Bridge, then aged 18, was clearing roof gutters at Shealwalls Farm, one of four farms run by the partnership in the Alyth area, when the incident occurred on 15 August 2012.

After being lifted by a colleague up to the roof in a basket attached to a telehandler forklift, Mr Bridge walked to the far end of the roof, stepping over a PVC roof light he knew was fragile and would not take his weight. However, on his return James did not notice the roof light, which broke under his weight when he stepped on it. He fell more than three metres and landed on the concrete passageway below with his lower legs caught through a feed barrier.

He was taken to hospital with a fractured skull, bleeding inside the skull, bruising to his face and a laceration above his left eye. Following an investigation, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that workers at the farm had not been issued with instructions and their work was unsupervised. Neither of the men involved had been trained to work at height, let alone on fragile roof surfaces.

The investigators concluded that Messrs Finlay McGowan failed to properly plan and appropriately supervise work being carried out at height, and ensure that the work was carried out in a safe manner. HSE Inspector Michelle Gillies commented on the case, "This was an entirely avoidable incident. The precautions needed to prevent falls from height are basic, inexpensive and easily implemented such as using crawling boards to spread weight over a large surface and shield fragile roof sheeting or simply by using a mobile working platform.

"Messrs Finlay McGowan should have carried out a risk assessment before work started. This would have identified hazards as well as measures that would have eliminated or reduced the risks to the health and safety of the partnership's employees."

Falls such as this account for a large proportion of deaths in the farming and construction industries, according to the inspector; on average seven people are killed each year after falling through fragile roofs or roof lights, and many others suffer permanent disabling injury.

Farming has had the dubious honour of being the UK's the most dangerous occupation for several years. According to figures released in October, major injuries (ranging from amputations to fractures and burns) in the agriculture sector remained relatively unchanged in 2012, with only one less incident than the previous year, whilst such injuries fell by 11 percent across the UK workforce as a whole. The farming sector also accounted for almost 20 percent of work-place fatalities, despite employing less than 1 percent of the UK population.

Ceredigion farm prosecuted after fatal fall

In a similar case from 2010 that ended in tragedy, a farming family in West Wales was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 in costs on monday (12 May) for safety failings which led to a roof worker plunging almost 5 metres to his death in front of his two sons.

Ronald Clarke, 59, of Whitland, fell through the fragile roof of a cowshed while working at Rhyd Sais Farm near Llandysul, Ceredigion on 23 July 2010, hitting the concrete floor below. He died in hospital a short time later as a result of the injuries he sustained.

HSE prosecuted farm owners John Evans, his wife Glenys and his mother Margaret Evans at Swansea Crown Court for failing to ensure work on their property was safely managed. The Court heard that Mr Clarke was working with his sons Bobby Joe and Acer on cowsheds at the farm, all of which had fibre cement roofs. One shed had a sign reading "Danger – Fragile Roof. Use Crawler Boards," although Mr Clarke had limited reading skills and the prosecution said he may have failed to understand the sign.

On the day of the incident, all three were working on the unsupported fibre cement sheet roof using a pressure washer and trowels to remove moss when the section beneath Ronald Clarke gave way. HSE's investigation found no evidence of adequate planning for the work, and concluded that Mr Clarke, who was registered sick and not in full time employment, did not produce any evidence of training, qualifications or expertise in roof work. The farm owners had a legal duty to ensure the competence of those working for the business, inspectors said, but they had failed to do so.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Stephen Jones, commented, "This tragic incident was entirely preventable. A safe system of work would have included either working from a mobile elevated platform, placing suitable covering on the roof to spread the load or fitting safety nets underneath. This kind of accident is all too common, particularly on farms, and work at height must always be properly planned. Contractors must implement the plan and those in control of the contractors much check it is being implemented properly."

"Any business or worker commissioning or undertaking roof work has legal responsibilities to ensure it is carried out safely.  Those responsibilities cannot be delegated to someone else, and building owners have to understand that the onus is on them."