The Health & Safety Executive investigated a report of unsafe working conditions by a member of the public – and found builders using an astonishing alternative to safety ladders.
When inspectors attended the site in Kingsley, Cheshire, they found a scaffold tower was being used to access a roof in order to carry out construction work on its tiled surface.
However, there was a gap of around a metre between the roof and the top of the scaffold tower – and the builders had to leap across this distance on their way up or down.
Ronald Steven King, commonly known as Steve, was prosecuted for failing to provide suitable access equipment and edge protection for the job, which was carried out by him and two other workmen.
He was fined £3,000, with nearly £2,500 of costs, after pleading guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by not providing edge protection, safety ladders or other suitable protection to prevent falls.
Inspector Kevin Jones said: “He not only put his own life at risk but also the lives of two of the workers he employed, by asking them to jump from the scaffolding to the roof, and by not providing protection around the edge of the roof.”