Work at height compliance failed a Northumberland building contractor this month, after a bricklayer broke his back and fractured his sternum falling through a fragile barn roof during repair work. The Health and Safety Executive found no risk assessment or safe system of work had been prepared before the job began, and no measures were in place to stop a worker stepping directly onto an unsupported roof sheet. Len Smith & Son Building Contractors Limited was fined £20,000 plus costs at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace death and serious injury in Great Britain, accounting for around a quarter of all work related deaths last year. Fragile roofs are a well known hazard category precisely because they look solid from a distance, which is why guidance calls for a specific, task level risk assessment rather than a generic site safety statement. Cases like this keep happening because risk assessments and method statements are still treated as paperwork exercises rather than live safety controls, especially on short repair jobs where teams feel the planning stage can be skipped or where competence to identify fragile materials is assumed rather than checked.

This is exactly where digital tools make the difference. FlexManager lets site managers build a Risk Assessment Method Statement for each work at height task, assign it to the crew, and require sign off on mobile devices before the first ladder goes up. Training Manager confirms who is competent to identify fragile roof materials, Asset Inspections and Audits keep roof and access records current, and Toolbox Talks put the hazard in front of the crew on the morning of the job, not buried in a folder.

How many of your work at height jobs still rely on a printed RAMS form nobody reads on site? Book a demo with FlexManager to see how digital risk assessments, sign offs, training records and inspections keep your crews protected and your paperwork audit ready.