A SOLAR panel installation company has been fined after a worker fell off a roof in Thornbury, suffering life-changing injuries.
The man - who is now unable to walk or talk - was employed by solar energy company Everyone’s Energy UK Limited when he fell three metres on July 4, 2022.
Everyone’s Energy was ordered to pay more than £36,000 during a hearing at Bristol Magistrates Court last Tuesday, March 12.
It is believed the 41-year-old had been carrying materials up a ladder when he fell while installing solar panels on the roof of a home in Pentland Avenue.
He landed at the foot of the ladder and suffered a fractured skull, leading to a severe brain injury.
An investigation by workplace regulator Health and Safety Executive said Everyone’s Energy had “failed to properly plan, manage, and monitor the work at height.”
In addition, the company "had not provided adequate scaffolding" around the roof and there was “no appropriate means to raise the materials” onto the roof.
Everyone’s Energy UK Limited, of Old London Road, Hertford, pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 .
The company was fined £28,000 and ordered to pay £6,634 in costs plus a victim surcharge of £2,000 - a total of £36,634.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Ian Whittles said: “This serious incident could have been avoided if the employer had acted to identify and control the risks involved and provided a safe means of getting the materials onto the roof.”
Commenting after the case, a spokesperson for Everyone's Energy UK Limited said the man involved was a self-employed subcontractor not a direct employee of the company.
They said in a statement: “Everyone’s Energy UK is devastated by the injury suffered by one of its subcontractors following an accident on its site in August 2022 at Pentland Avenue.
“The company accepted the recent decision of the judge that she could not be confident that failure to provide and insist on lifting gear was a significant cause of the accident but that the company should have insisted on lifting gear being used at the site rather than taken the advice of the subcontractor to not install it.
“The company held its hands up to this mistake and cooperated fully with the Health and Safety Executive.
“The company has strengthened and improved all health and safety procedures since this accident.
“The company continues to support the injured subcontractor and wish for his recovery.”
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