Two companies have been fined more than £100,000 after a man fell 30 feet through a fragile skylight while working on a roof.
Nicolas Vilela suffered multiple injuries at Graystone Action Sports Centre in Salford on 23 November 2022. He had been fixing a solar panel when he stepped back and fell through a skylight to the skate park below, narrowly missing bystanders. Injuries included a partial lung collapse, broken ribs, pelvis, femur, left wrist, and vertebrae fractures; he spent a month in hospital.
H2O Renewables Limited, principal contractor, and Green Projects Ltd, sub-contractor, failed to implement suitable precautions or a safe system of work around known fragile rooflights. H2O’s risk assessment had only used cones and warning tape; scaffolding was only partially erected.
H2O Renewables Ltd pleaded guilty to Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, fined £106,720 with £40,995 costs. Green Projects Ltd pleaded guilty to Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, fined £13,340 with £1,600 costs.
Mr Vilela said the incident has left him with lasting physical and emotional trauma. Inspector Phil Redman reminded employers that all work-at-height must be planned, managed, and monitored with a safe system of work.
