Worker can't walk or talk following injury installing solar panels
The Health and Safety Executive has successfully prosecuted a solar panel company following the incident in South Gloucestershire in 2022
A solar panel installation company has been fined after a worker fell and suffered life-changing injuries in an incident in 2022.
The 41-year-old is believed to have fallen three metres from a property in South Gloucestershire whilst carrying materials up a ladder on July 4th that year - whilst installing solar panels on the roof of a house.
He landed at the foot of the ladder at the property on Pentland Avenue in Thornbury and suffered a fractured skull, leading to a severe brain injury.
He is now unable to walk or talk.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found Everyone’s Energy UK Limited had failed to properly plan, manage, and monitor the work at height, adding the firm 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, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 .
The company was fined £28,000 and ordered to pay £6,634.56 in costs at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on 12 March 2024.
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.”
HSE guidance states that employers and self-employed contractors must assess the risks, take precautions and issue clear method statements for everyone who will work at height - which you can read more about here.