A company director has been handed community service and ordered to pay thousands in costs after and employee suffered life-threatening injuries after a fall.

Graham Dyson, the director of Globalforce Contracts Limited, which is based in Bulphan, has been sentenced after an employee fell from a roof and sustained life-threatening injuries.

On Feburary 8, Chelmsford Magistrates Court heard how, Slawomir Miller, an employee of Globalforce Contracts Limited, was carrying out roof repairs when he fell six metres through a fragile rooflight.

Mr Miller landed on the concrete floor below and received multiple fractures to his vertebrae, ribs, elbow, wrist and sacral bones. He subsequently spent eight weeks in hospital after the incident, which took place on April 7, 2017.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mr Dyson had failed to properly plan the work or provide adequate fall protection to his employees.

Mr Miller had never carried out roof work before but was instructed to access the roof via a scissor lift, which he was not trained to use.

Mr Dyson allowed Mr Miller to work without supervision, undertaking activities that necessitated walking across a fragile roof composed of asbestos cement sheeting.

Mr Graham Dyson, of Church Road, Bulphan, admitted breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 when he first appeared at magistrates' court on December 12, 2018.

Last week, he was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay costs of £6,848.60 and a victim surcharge of £85.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Adam Hills said “This incident could so easily have been prevented. Work at height on asbestos cement roofing is dangerous and requires adequate planning, organisation, training and equipment.

The director was aware of the need to access and repair the roof.

"He could have provided work at height training and equipment to workers, or simply contracted the task out to a professional roofing company. Directors should be aware that they may be held personally accountable if they endanger the lives of their employees."