The owner of a roofing company has received a suspended sentence after a member of the public reported practices of unsafe working at height. Liverpool Crown Court heard how, on 5 March 2021, company owner Phillip McGinn and two workers were replacing roof tiles on a property without any scaffolding or edge protection in operation to ensure they would not fall from height which could cause personal injury.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that Phillip McGinn had not implemented suitable and sufficient safety measures to make sure that work at height was performed safely. He had failed to provide adequate work equipment to prevent a fall or to reduce the distance or effects of a fall.
The court also heard that in 2012 the HSE took enforcement action and prosecuted Mr McGinn for a similar offence. Phillip McGinn of Lydiate, Merseyside, was found guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was given a thirteen-month suspended prison sentence, 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay costs of £1,000.