A London developer and its director face fines for unsafe roof work after failing to erect required scaffolding identified in safety assessments.
A property development company operating in London, along with its director, has been prosecuted and fined after permitting high-level roof work without necessary edge protection. Safety inspectors identified that work at height carried on despite a subcontractor's formal risk assessment explicitly marking full scaffold installation as a mandatory control measure before starting work.
Falls from height remain the primary cause of fatal injuries and serious harm across the UK construction sector. Executive enforcement actions routinely target sites where identified risk controls are bypassed to save time or costs. Main contractors and developers hold a non-delegable duty to ensure physical protections, such as perimeter scaffolding, are fully erected and inspected before trades access fragile surfaces or open roof edges.
What does this mean for a UK tradesperson or DIYer actually buying this kit — does it change what they should pay, buy, or watch out for? Tradespeople, roofers, and sub-contractors should never start work on a site where safety kit, such as required scaffolding or fall-arrest equipment, has been cut from the budget or delayed. If access equipment is missing, walk away or halt work until the correct rig is supplied; HSE prosecutions target site operators, but individuals face extreme risk on unmanaged edges. DIYers managing their own roof or fascia repairs must factor the cost of proper edge protection into their budget rather than relying solely on ladders.
Always verify that mandatory fall protection specified in site risk assessments is physically installed and certified before sending workers or stepping onto a roof yourself.
Reported by ScaffMag — original article
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