A roofing firm in County Surrey, England, about 22 miles southwest of London, has been fined — and its director handed a suspended prison sentence — after workers' lives were put at risk during a roof renovation for multiple safety lapses.
The single-family home in the city of Dorking where the crew was working had been observed operating without scaffolding or edge protection, required under the UK’s safety rules, according to the Health and Safety Executive, the regulatory body responsible for safety enforcement. The HSE is roughly the equivalent of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
Arguably, the most egregious example of worker safety lapses was how the crew of Weather Master Roofing Limited, based in London, illuminated the worksite after dark: the field crew was seen using their cell phone flashlights for illumination, according to the HSE and first reported by the BBC.
The HSE said Weather Master Roofing Limited was served with an improvement notice in February 2023 but failed to comply.
"Falls from height are still the single biggest cause of work-related deaths in Great Britain,” HSE inspector Stephanie Hickford-Smith said. "Support and practical guidance on how to comply with the law is publicly available, free of charge. There is no excuse for putting workers' lives at risk."
The regulator said company director Jack Avanzo received a six-month suspended jail sentence for two years at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Dec. 2. The company was also fined nearly $5,100 and ordered to pay almost $2,000 in costs and a victim surcharge of slightly more than $2,000.
The HSE said Avanzo pleaded guilty to breaching the relevant laws and was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work in addition to the suspended jail time and fines.
