| Roofing boss jailed for teenager’s death |
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| Wednesday, 07 May 2008 | |
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A roofing boss will face the next 10 months behind bars after one of his employees plummeted 30ft to his death when working on a retail unit in Wales.
Daniel Dennis, 17, from Pyle, Bridgend, suffered serious injuries after falling through a skylight at a retail unit in Cwmbran while working for North Eastern Roofing in 2003. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) later brought manslaughter charges against the company’s owner, Roy Clark, from Cefn Cribbwr, Bridgend. Clark pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month and was ordered to pay £18,000 on top of his 10-month sentence. The Health and Safety Executive investigated the incident and its evidence formed part of the CPS prosecution of Mr Clark. Last year 45 workers in the UK died following a fall from height and 3,750 were seriously injured. HSE Inspector Dean Baker said Dennis was never given training or induction for working at height. He said: “This tragic case demonstrates the need for employers to take serious steps to ensure anyone working at height is properly trained, and given appropriate equipment to do their job safely.” The HSE is running a campaign called Shattered Lives to raise awareness of the dangers of falls, slips and trips in the workplace. |



