Construction company fined £33,500 after fatal fall

Images after the incident showed tarpaulin falling through the hole

A construction company has been fined £33,500 after a man died after falling through an unprotected skylight opening.

Bhakta Rai died at a property in Farnborough in July 2022, after he fell 2.5m onto concrete while helping cover a roof late at night.

Skyladder Construction Limited were fined at Basingstoke Magistrates' court on 31 October after pleading guilty to breaches of Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The BBC has been unable to contact the construction company for a comment.

The hole was covered when the Health and Safety Executive visited the site after the fall

Following the hearing, Jenny Morris, an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety, called it "a wholly avoidable incident".

"Mr Rai died in a fall which should never have been able to happen," she said.

She added: "Falls when working at height remain the most common kind of workplace fatality, accounting for around a quarter of all worker deaths."

The hearing heard how no ambulance was called, and Mr Raj was taken to hospital in a van.

The HSE found no safety measures on the roof and said the construction company failed to provide requested information under health and safety law.

The company was fined £33,500, ordered to pay £8,472 in costs, and a £2,000 victim surcharge.