May 15 2007
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today warned construction companies that if they fail to comply with an enforcement notice they risk being prosecuted. The warning comes after Harry Kindred (Newcastle) Ltd were prosecuted by HSE for failing to comply with two improvement notices.
Companies were also warned that they need to ensure they provide adequate welfare facilities for staff, including hot and cold or warm running water on sites.
The warnings came HSE prosecuted Harry Kindred (Newcastle) Ltd, which is now in receivership, at Alnwick Magistrates' Court, Northumberland. The company pleaded guilty to four breaches of health and safety law.
HSE Inspector Michael Brown said the prosecution arose out of conditions found during autumn 2006 at a site off Radcliffe Road, Bamburgh, Northumberland, where Harry Kindred (Newcastle) Ltd was principal contractor for the construction of a four-bedroom detached house.
He said: "Failing to comply with the requirements of an Improvement Notice is a very serious matter and companies should be aware that the HSE will take appropriate action in such cases.
"In this case conditions on the site presented a danger of causing trips which, together with slips, are the single most common cause of injuries in British workplaces, with almost 11,000 major injuries a year including over 1,000 in the construction industry. I would also remind companies that they must provide a decent minimum level of welfare facilities for their employees and it is part of HSE's remit to regulate workplaces so they are healthy as well as safe.
Mr Brown explained the history to the prosecution. He said: "An Inspector visited the site on 26 October last year and did not consider it had been kept in good order. In particular, timber battens and pallets of bricks were being stored in such a manner as to cause an obstruction, and there was debris in various locations causing a tripping hazard. The Inspector issued an Improvement Notice requiring the site to be kept in good order by 17 November.
"In addition, he found that the welfare facilities on site consisted of a cabin that was not connected to an electricity supply and a portable toilet that contained a sink and cold water supplied by a foot-operated pump. He therefore issued an Improvement Notice requiring running hot and cold or warm water to be supplied by 17 November.
"The Inspector also found scaffolding with what appeared to be a working platform on the second lift without guard rails or toe boards or other means to prevent a person from falling, and a working platform on the top lift with a number of toe boards missing. He therefore issued a Prohibition Notice stopping work on the scaffold until the defects had been remedied.
"The Inspector telephoned the company, spoke to the contracts manager and told him of the conditions found and the action taken. He also wrote to the company on 27 October.
"He visited the site again on 20 November. A person was working on the top working platform of the scaffold, where it appeared guard rails and toe boards had been removed. None of the matters relating to good order on site had been rectified and the welfare facilities were unimproved.
"A man who said he was the site manager employed by Harry Kindred (Newcastle) Ltd told the Inspectors he was in charge of another of the company's sites at North Sunderland and had been asked to keep an eye on the Bamburgh site; he was unaware of the Improvement Notices or the conditions on site".
Harry Kindred (Newcastle) Ltd was fined a total of £6,000 for the four breaches of Health and Safety law. It was ordered to pay £608.40 costs.