WORKERS were not wearing safety gear at a warehouse when a man fell to his death, a court was told yesterday.

Managing director John Elders and other members of his roofing squad were working without a safety harness, it was alleged.

But, the day after the accident, there was a safety net and scaffolding in place, said David Nicholson, managing director of Nicholson Transport, which leased the warehouse on a former ICI site at Billingham, on Teesside.

Mr Nicholson said that Mr Elders, 48, told him: "There is only one way to do the job right - and that is safely," before his company, Factory Cover, of Hartlepool, was awarded the contract.

Mr Nicholson said that when he arrived on the day of the tragedy, the men were already on the roof and Mr Elders came down for a chat.

Mr Nicholson said: "He was not wearing any safety harness or equipment that I was aware of, and neither were any of the other men.

"I became aware of some noise, when a chap came through the roof. It sounded like a sheet was breaking.

"I saw the guy actually falling through the roof. I went over, but there were a couple of guys already on the scene.

"It was immediately apparent that he was severely injured. I went to get the emergency services."

Later, Mr Nicholson told Teesside Crown Court that Mr Elders' company completed the contract using various pieces of safety equipment, including scaffolding and a net.

Mr Elders and his company deny manslaughter after the death, in May 2000, of Stanley Dawson, 50, a father-of-two, of Huxley Walk, Hartlepool.

Mr Elders, of The Green, Elwick, near Hartlepool - who is Factory Cover's only director - also denies two offences under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act.

The company, of Tofts Farm Industrial Estate, Hartlepool, pleads guilty to failing to make an adequate risk assessment of the safety of its employees, and failing to provide adequate safety equipment.

The case continues