A BUILDER from Nelson has been fined after a passing health and safety inspector spotted him working on a roof without taking any safety precautions.

No scaffolding had been erected or safety harnesses used while Mohammed Yasin worked on a roof in Matlock Grove, Burnley, last April, Pennine magistrates were told.

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An investigation was launched by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after Yasin, who trades as Southfield Property Maintenance, put himself and at least two employees in jeopardy while they attempted to install a dormer window.

Yasin, of Larch Street, Nelson, admitted breaching working at height regulations and was fined £2,000 with £400 prosecutions costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Jacqueline Western, said: “It’s astonishing that Mr Yasin was prepared to carry out a construction project that involved major roof work, without putting safety measures in place to protect the people he employed.

“While he worked safely inside the house, the lives of two men were being put at risk as they clambered about on the roof. The work simply shouldn’t have been allowed to go ahead without the use of scaffolding or other safety equipment.

“The risks from working at height are well known in the construction industry. It is therefore only luck that no one was injured on this occasion.”

The case is the second involving Burnley and Pendle firms ignoring working at height advice after Burnley College was fined £20,000 last week, following a serious fall by an engineering technician as he attempted to fix an air filter.