The most recent court case on the SHP "in court" section saw the Principal contractor fined £633000 for a fatality. On this ocassion the sub contractor is now in administration so they cannot be pursued but there have been cases in the past where a contractor has been brought onto site to do a job but it is the hiring business (in this case the Principal contractor) who carries the can. There was another case where a printing company brought in roof workers for roof repairs - they failed to follow their own procedures and one of the contractors was injured. The hiring Company got fined £250,000. Although both of the above are different, the idea of bringing someone in with expertise/knowledge would show that you have identified your limits and brought in "an expert!". I don't think the fine was big enough for the fatality but I sometimes sympathise with the hiring business who believes they have hired competent contractors, only to be let down and someone ends up suffering an injury or losing their life.

I agree with the PC but the case where a company brings in a roofing contractor. All paperwork was supplied and deemed suitable. The contractor then failed to follow their own procedures (resulting in a fatality of a co-worker) and the hiring company got fined (along with the roofer). In my opinion, the hiring company has identified that they need to out source this type of work, they bring in a reputable firm!!! the only way a company could supervise would be to go up on the roof themselves. Personally, I would have tried to argue this but maybe there was some other evidence that was not published which found the hiring company guilty.