Fall leaves workerblind in one eye

A worker suffered multiple head injuries and was left blind in one eye after he plunged nearly five metres through a fragile barn roof in Edale, a court has heard.

The 31-year-old from Wirksworth, who has asked not to be named, was helping to repair the roof when one of the corrugated cement roof panels gave way at Lady Booth Hall Farm on Ollerbrook Lane on July 9, 2012.

The worker smashed to the concrete floor and had to be airlifted to hospital after fracturing his skull. He also suffered permanent loss of sight in his right eye and hearing in his left ear.

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The man in control of the work, Craig Allsop, and farm owner John Shirt, were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.

Buxton Magistrates’ Court heard Mr Allsop had totally failed to plan the work safely and had not used any safety equipment for the work.

Craig Allsop, 37, of Old Hill, Ashbourne, was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £800 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 on March 19, 2013.

John Shirt, 62, admitted a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 by failing to do more to ensure the safety of the people he had contracted to repair his barn roof. He was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay costs of £800.