- Photos taken after fire on roof of apartment block show damage
- Four workers forced to flee blaze with just one ladder as their escape route
- No fire extinguishers, no means of raising the alarm and no permit for welding work
- C Watkins Plumbing Limited fined after HSE investigation finds company failed to follow its own hot works procedures
Shocking photographs taken in the aftermath of a fire on the roof of an apartment block in Surrey show how lucky four workers were to escape.
A contractor has been fined after the workers had to flee a fire that engulfed the roof of a 14-storey apartment building under construction in Surrey.
The four subcontractors were working under the control of C Watkins Plumbing Limited, installing an air source heat pump on the roof of the Old Telephone Exchange development in Staines-upon-Thames, when the incident happened on 26 July 2024.
Sparks from welding work ignited uncovered rigid foam insulation that had been laid across the roof. The self-sustaining fire developed quickly, spreading across the whole of the roof space before burning itself out when it ran out of fuel.
The men escaped through a single opening in the floor and down a ladder to Level 14. There was no other way off the roof, no means of raising the alarm, and no fire extinguishers.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had failed to plan, manage and monitor the hot works on the roof. Despite the company having policies requiring them, there was no risk assessment or method statement in place, and a permit to work was not issued for the welding.
HSE’s guidance, HSG168 – Fire Safety in Construction, states that fire safety measures must be considered throughout all stages of design and procurement, and implemented effectively during construction. It says risk assessments must identify high-risk activities where fires can spread quickly, and situations where evacuation plans are complex, and that all risk assessments and control measures must be reviewed throughout the construction phase to make sure they remain suitable and sufficient.
C Watkins Plumbing Limited, of Watkins House, Leigh Road, Haine Industrial Park, Ramsgate, Kent, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 15(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £8,270 in costs at Staines Magistrates’ Court on 29 October 2026.
HSE inspector Stephanie Hickford-Smith said:
“Watkins failed to follow its own procedures for hot works. It did not assess the risks and so had no control measures in place.
“The four men working on the roof were lucky to escape. Had the fire started closer to their escape route, or had they not acted as quickly as they did, the outcome could have been devastatingly different.”
This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE senior enforcement lawyers James Towey and Laura Lax and paralegal officer Farhat Basir.
Further information:
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
- More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
- Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
- HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so. The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in Scotland can be found here.