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Roofing firm fined over employee injury

A COMPANY was prosecuted yesterday after an employee plunged through a hole in a church roof and suffered severe injuries.

Allen Smith, from Southampton, sustained a collapsed lung, smashed pelvis and head injuries in the fall at Anerley Methodist Church in south London in October last year.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) yesterday prosecuted Nationwide Roofing and Cladding Ltd. for serious safety failings at Westminster magistrates’ court. 

The company was fined £8,600 and ordered to pay £11,280 in costs.

Mr Smith was in hospital for two months, has had a subsequent operation on his lungs, will need a hip replacement and is likely to suffer long-term arthritis. He is unlikely to ever work again.

HSE inspector Wendy Garnett said: “Mr Smith suffered life-threatening injuries in this fall and will have to live with the disabling consequences. However, his fall could have been avoided had Nationwide Roofing followed standard industry practice.”

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