A Staffordshire-based home improvement company has been fined \u00a316,500 after a worker sustained serious injuries when he fell from height whilst carrying out gutter replacement work.<\/p>\n
Birmingham Magistrates\u2019 Court heard on 12th November 2025 how the worker had been tasked with replacing guttering on a domestic garage building in Hednesford on 12 August 2024. He had not been given any instructions on how to carry out the work safely and had not been told that a shed was restricting access to some parts of the guttering.<\/p>\n
Whilst reaching from his position on the shed to the last gutter bracket, the worker fell approximately 7 feet to the ground below. The fall resulted in serious injuries, including fractures to his shoulder, upper arm, eye socket and nose.<\/p>\n
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company, Goliath Home World Limited, failed to properly plan the work, put in place measures to prevent or protect against a fall from height, or provide adequate information and instruction to its worker.<\/p>\n
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require activities to be properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. Guidance on achieving compliance with the law and keeping workers safe is available on the HSE website.<\/p>\n
Goliath Home World Limited of Goliath House, Navigation Way, Cannock, Staffordshire, WS11 7XU, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined \u00a316,500 with a victim surcharge of \u00a32000 and ordered to pay costs of \u00a35,994.55<\/p>\n
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector, Rob Gidman, said: \u201cThis incident highlights the importance of undertaking a thorough assessment of the risks for all work at height activities and ensuring that suitable control measures are implemented. Had the work been properly planned and suitable work equipment provided, this incident would not have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
The HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer, Arfaq Nabi.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Further Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Health and Safety Executive<\/a> (HSE) is Britain\u2019s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 More information about the legislation<\/a> referred to in this case is available.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Further details on the latest HSE news releases<\/a> is available.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Relevant guidance can be found here Working at height: A brief guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n 5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.\u00a0 The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Staffordshire-based home improvement company has been fined \u00a316,500 after a worker sustained serious injuries when he fell from height whilst carrying out gutter replacement work. Birmingham Magistrates\u2019 Court heard on 12th November 2025 how the worker had been tasked with replacing guttering on a domestic garage building in Hednesford on 12 August 2024. He…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}