A FAMILY company faces a £11,455 court bill after a roofer broke his skull in a 7.1 metre fall.

Callum Holmes also suffered other injuries and was off work for at least eight months after he crashed through the roof where he was working without safety precautions, health and safety inspector Julian Franklin told York magistrates.

The company he was working for, Mitchell Roofing Ltd, had not carried out a risk assessment before sending him and two other men onto the roof of Monk Bridge Construction Ltd at Elvington Industrial Estate. Nor had they erected a safety net, scaffolding or safety barriers, or given them safety harnesses.

“Callum was very lucky because he lived,” said Mr Franklin, adding that falls from heights such as roofs are the biggest cause of fatal accidents in the construction industry.

Mitchell Roofing Ltd, of Sands Lane, Rillington, near Malton, pleaded guilty to failure to ensure Mr Holmes’ safety. It was fined £10,000, plus £1,355 prosecution costs, plus a £100 statutory surcharge. A civil law case over the incident is pending.

Their solicitor Ben Derrington said Mr Holmes was now back at work, and the company, had paid him throughout his convalescence, although he was self-employed.

“They felt it was their duty after what had occurred,” he said. “It is a business which prides itself on looking after its people.”

The site supervisor for the Elvington job was experienced, as was the project manager, and both were fully trained in safety matters. The company also employed a health and safety consultant who regularly carried out safety audits and training.

Mr Franklin said: “It was on the little jobs, hardly worth worrying about, where the company fell down.”

The company had installed a roof and side panels on an extension to the building where the accident happened in 2014. It had carried out a full risk assessment and used proper safety precautions.

But when the Elvington firm asked it to do the one-day job of replacing 12 window panels on the original roof, on January 22, 2015, the roofing firm sent the three men up without a risk assessment or safety equipment, although it had equipment available.

Mr Holmes lost his balance and fell through an insulation layer after the crew had removed the steel roof panel which could carry their weight, so that they could remove part of a window panel.