A Gloucestershire sawmill has been fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £14,000 costs after a worker was injured in an industrial accident.
During a hearing at Gloucester magistrates, Woodgate Sawmills of Lydney admitted breaching safety regulations and failing to complete risk assessments during a hearing.
A second company in the case, the Longhope Welding Company, was fined £41,000 for similar offences.
The court heard that a man working on the sawmill roof fell through a skylight and onto a concrete floor and suffered serious head injuries.
Evidence was given that Woodgate Sawmills had not correctly assessed the dangers of working on the roof. At the same time it had let work continue underneath the roof where sawmill employees were working.
“The investigation revealed significant failures in the safe systems of work for the removal of the roof sheets and also significant failure to control risks of working at height during all of the stages of the sawmill refurbishment,” said an HSE spokesperson.
“The man who fell was supervising two other employees who were also at risk. The sawmill remained open during all of the works and employees working below were also at risk from persons or objects falling on them.”
