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  • Unit J, Buckshaw Link
  • Ordnance Way, Buckshaw Village
  • Chorley, PR7 7EL

Solar installers scuppered by lack of edge protection and walkovers

Edge protection

A lack of walkovers on a fragile roof, combined with the failure to install edge protection, left a pair of brothers lucky to escape more serious injury when they fell 15ft to the ground below.

Brynley Perrett sustained the worse injuries in the incident, picking up a compression fracture of the back and sternum, while his brother Anthony luckily was not injured despite falling the same distance.

The pair were working to install solar panels on a roof at Llan-y-nant Farm near Trellech in Monmouthshire in June 2013.

With no walkover on the fragile roof surface, and no nets beneath it, there was nothing to reduce the risk of an incident and associated injury.

The Health & Safety Executive also found there was no edge protection in place to prevent a fall from the edge of the roof, rather than by breaking through its fragile surface.

“Working on a roof can be dangerous, with falls accounting for more deaths in the construction industry than any other type of incident,” said HSE inspector Steve Richardson.

“The risks are well known, and guidance is freely available outlining how to work safely at height.”

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