Company and manager fined over worker's fall death

A company has been ordered to pay nearly £120,000 after one of its employees fell more than 20 feet to his death at work.

Maciej Rozanski, 42, died on 29 June 2018 while working at Surface Technik (Old Hill) Ltd in Dudley, West Midlands.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution against the firm, whose website describes itself as specialising in shot blasting and anti-corrosive treatments, and its operations manager, Robert Hammond.

The company, which is now in liquidation, was fined £90,000 and ordered to pay costs of £28,956, while Hammond was fined £8,500 and ordered to pay the same amount in costs.

The HSE said Mr Rozanski had been working at height to remove a steel cleaning machine from the company's Sovereign Works site on Deepdale Lane when he stepped on to a roof and fell more than 20 feet to the floor.

He suffered serious injuries and died at the scene.

The HSE described the roof as fragile, with the work undertaken without suitable access equipment or safe working practices, and with "no suitable and sufficient risk assessment".

"The work was not properly organised, planned, appropriately supervised or carried out in a safe manner and the employees were not trained for working at height when the incident occurred," the HSE said.

Surface Technik (Old Hill) Ltd was found to have breached Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which requires employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees.

Hammond pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7 of the Act, which requires employees to take reasonable care to ensure the health and safety of themselves and others.

HSE inspector Sarah Smewin said: "This case highlights the risks of working at height from or near to fragile roof surfaces, and the importance of a risk assessment, proper planning, training and supervision of work at height and the use of suitable access equipment to ensure that the work can be carried out safely.

"It also demonstrates that placing a company into liquidation is no bar to prosecution."

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