A North East building contractor has been fined after a bricklayer broke his back falling through a barn roof.
The 24-year-old bricklayer was part of a team working for Len Smith & Son Building Contractors Ltd carrying out roof repairs at a farm in Northumberland, on February 5, last year.
He stepped on a polycarbonate roof sheet and fell approximately eight feet on to the concrete floor below, at East Fleetham Farm, in Seahouses.
The worker suffered two broken vertebrae in his back, and a fractured sternum which required surgery.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the company failed to ensure there were adequate measures in place to protect employees or contractors when working at height.
There was no risk assessment or safe system of work for the work being undertaken.
Len Smith & Son Building Contractors Ltd, of Beadnell, Northumberland, admitted breaching two sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974, and was fined £20,000 by North Tyneside Magistrates on Thursday (August 6).
The company was also ordered to pay £5,744 in costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Richard McMullen said: “The outcome of this case could have been much worse, but the man’s injuries were still very serious.
“Falls from height continue to be the leading cause of workplace fatalities in Great Britain, with 31 people losing their lives in the past year.
“The construction industry remains the sector that accounts for the greatest number of workers killed each year.
“These figures do not include those individuals that have sustained serious, life changing injuries in falls.”
Falls from height remain a leading cause of workplace injuries, with the latest HSE statistics showing they accounted for more than a quarter of all work-related deaths in 2025/26.
HSE guidance states what an employer must do to protect employees from such falls, including making sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people.
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