Personal Injury Solicitors

Supermarket chain Tesco has been fined after health and safety breaches led to a worker falling through a skylight.

The unnamed worker – an employee of Tesco Maintenance Ltd – suffered only minor injuries in the fall, but dropped 30 feet after plunging through a fragile skylight onto the trading area floor of the Tesco Liscard Express store in Liscard Village, Wallasey. Merseyside.

The worker was part of a team carrying out repairs to the roof and gutters of the store when the incident occurred on the 13 June 2014.

Tesco Maintenance Ltd and Tesco Stores Ltd were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after an investigation found that no risk assessment or method statement had been produced prior to carrying out the work.

The fragile skylights should have been identified and precautions taken – but Tesco Maintenance Ltd had received no information relating to the fragility of the roof from their client Tesco Stores Ltd.

At Liverpool Crown Court, Tesco Stores Ltd of Tesco House, Shire Park, Kestrel Way in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 – and Regulation 10 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

Tesco Stores Ltd was fined £200,000 with £712.70 costs.

Tesco Maintenance Ltd of Tesco House, Shire Park, Kestrel Way, Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 – and Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Tesco Maintenance Ltd was fined £300,000 with £624.60 costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Chris Hatton said:

“Contractors should treat all roofs with care and check before starting any work if they are fragile.

“I am shocked at a company the size of Tesco failing to take even basic precautions to prevent injury to its employees – and further, to risk injury to the public.”

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – No win no fee Falls from Height Claims

Duncan Lewis can advise those who suffer injury as a result of a fall from height caused by negligence on how to make a no win no fee claim for compensation, including claims relating to:

• Accidents at work
• Balcony falls
• Children’s accidents
• Construction accidents
• Holiday accidents
• Public liability accidents
• Roofing worker claims.

Falls from height compensation claims have to be made within three years of injury – children can make personal injury claims up to the age of 21.

Duncan Lewis also offers supportive legal advice to bereaved families whose loved one has lost their life as a result of a fall from height caused by negligence and who wish to claim compensation.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Falls from Height Claims, call Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 0333 772 0409.