“YOU don’t go to work in the morning and expect to end up in intensive care.”

That’s the testimony of one man who ended up in hospital for three weeks after falling through a roof working for a roofing company.

On November 11, 2019, Billy Hewitt, a worker at Mitie Tilley Roofing Limited, fractured his pelvis, left wrist and eye socket after falling through the roof of a factory in Throckley, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Mr Hewitt, 60, had been replacing a skylight when he fell and landed on the concrete floor seven metres below. He was in hospital for three weeks.

For the incident, Mitie Tilley Roofing Limited, of London Bridge Street, London, was found guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, following a two-week trial in April.

They were fined £575,000 and ordered to pay £84,940.08 in costs.

The prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) came as part of a double investigation into working practices involving the roofing company, which ended in a second prosecution for a Penarth man when one of his workers was seriously injured in Swansea while working on a project run by Mitie Tilley Roofing Limited.

Mr Hewitt, from Whickham, is now classed as partly disabled and unable to work.

On the incident, Mr Hewitt said: “You don’t go to work in the morning and expect to end up in intensive care, but that’s what happened to me.

“It’s been four years since my accident and I don’t really do anything with my days.

“I really miss work.

“I was a roofer for 40 years, but this accident changed everything because I still can’t work.

“I used to earn a good wage, but now I’m classed as 51 per cent disabled and I rely entirely on benefits.”

Penarth Times: Billy Hewitt hasn’t worked since falling through the roof of a factory in Throckley, Newcastle upon Tyne in 2019Billy Hewitt hasn’t worked since falling through the roof of a factory in Throckley, Newcastle upon Tyne in 2019 (Image: HSE)

Penarth Times: In a separate incident, a Penarth man was sentenced after a worker fell through a roof in SwanseaIn a separate incident, a Penarth man was sentenced after a worker fell through a roof in Swansea (Image: HSE)

In the second case, business partner at RM Scaffolding Paul Robinson, of Laburnam Way, Penarth, was made to pay over £20,000 in costs and do 120 hours community service after his worker broke his femur falling through the roof of a building in Swansea working on a project run by Mitie Tilley Roofing.

HSE principal inspector John Heslop said: “Too many workers are injured or die every year as a result of falling through fragile rooflights without adequate fall prevention or protection measures in place.

“These were both shocking incidents, which had a lasting impact on those who were injured.

“HSE will not hesitate to take action against employers who do not do all that they should to keep people safe.”