A BURY roofer has been ordered to carry out community service work after he admitted putting workers’ lives at risk.

Tony Massey, who trades as Massey Roofing and Building Contractors, was photographed with two other men sitting on the ridge of the roof of a furniture warehouse on Wharfside Way in Trafford Park, around 10 metres above the ground, last October.

He was prosecuted after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found he had not taken any steps to prevent the men falling when climbing up the fragile roof to reach the ridge.

Trafford Magistrates heard Massey, of Sunny Bank Road, had been hired to carry out minor repairs to the roof at the Clivedon Furniture warehouse to fix leaks in the valley between two sloping sections.

He was seen climbing up to the ridge of the roof with a casual labourer and an employee from the furniture warehouse to check for other leaks, but failed to provide any safety equipment.

No risk assessment or method statement was produced in advance of the work, and no precautions were taken to prevent any of the men falling from the edge or through fragile glass skylights that run along almost the entire length of the roof.

The court was told Massey had been prosecuted before by HSE after an employee fell through a skylight at an industrial unit on Craven Court Industrial Estate in Warrington in 2007.

A 62-year-old man from Bury sustained severe spinal injuries, leading to him being paralysed from the waist down. Massey had been declared bankrupt at the time of the previous prosecution and received a conditional discharge.

Massey, aged 70, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and one breach of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 following the latest incident at the furniture warehouse in Trafford Park.

On Friday, Massey was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service in the next 12 months, and to pay £2,000 in prosecution costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Matt Greenly said: “It’s shocking that Mr Massey showed such a reckless attitude to safety at the furniture warehouse in Trafford Park, especially as one of his employees was paralysed in a fall in a previous incident.

“Mr Massey chose to ignore the lessons of his past mistakes and instead allowed himself and two other men to climb onto the ridge of a fragile warehouse roof without a single, basic safety precaution in place, putting his own and their lives at risk.

“Work at height has the potential to be extremely dangerous if it isn’t planned and carried out using appropriate equipment. Mr Massey should have known that more than most but has again found himself in court.”