A company and its director have been sentenced after an employee fell from height and suffered serious injuries.
Andrew Smith fractured his left femur, left elbow, left arm and pelvis after falling approximately three metres off a ladder on 28 July 2021.
He had been working for Profascias Ltd at Park Lane Primary School in Tilehurst, Reading.
The company had been hired to replace guttering and supply fascia boards and soffits at the infant school.
The ladder Mr Smith had been working from against the school wall slipped, causing the 53-year-old to fall to the ground.
He spent 16 days in hospital as a result of his injuries and later underwent surgery to add a bolt to his hip and metal plate to his arm.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found there had been insufficient planning of the work at height by Profascias Ltd and its director, John Nolan. A safe platform from which to work, such as a properly erected scaffold, should have been provided as workers needed both hands to carry out the work and could not therefore work safely from a ladder. Ladders should only be used for access or, where it is not reasonably practicable to provide safer working platforms, for short-term work of up to 30 minutes where workers can normally maintain three points of contact.