Companies in the construction industry have been advised to safeguard employees who are working above ground level.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), falls from height are the "biggest cause" of injuries among construction workers in the UK.
Russell Beckett, an inspector at the watchdog, said this means businesses must be conscious of the dangers they face and ensure adequate site safety standards are in place.
Employers were also told they need to know what measures should be applied on a consistent basis in order to reduce the chances of employees being injured while working above the ground.
Mr Beckett was speaking after construction company Bascomb and Drew, which is based in Berkshire, was prosecuted for an incident in which a worker fell from height and sustained injuries to his wrist and pelvis.
The firm was deemed to have not taken sufficient steps to protect its employee, who was working on a flat roof at a property in Holmsbury St Mary and fell through a skylight opening.
Mr Beckett noted that only plastic sheeting had been in place to cover the holes in the roof. As a result, he believes the fall might not have occurred if "something more substantial" had been used instead.
"This would have taken just a few minutes and would have prevented a man from suffering painful and long-term injuries," Mr Beckett commented.
Bascomb and Drew has been ordered to pay a £13,000 fine plus more than £4,000 in costs for breaching health and safety regulations.
The prosecution came shortly after Cruden Construction Ltd was fined for an incident at Barlow Moor High School in Didsbury in which two workers fell more than 1.5 metres from a flat roof.
Although the employees both suffered only minor injuries, the HSE stressed they could both "easily have been seriously injured or even killed".
An inadequate wooden handrail was deemed to be responsible for the accident, with HSE inspector Laura Moran saying it "simply wasn't up to the job".
