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Company fined £20,000 for H&S failures
Katie Coyne Contributing Editor
A Cheshire building company and director have been fined under the Health and Safety at Work Act following repeated H&S failures.
The fines relate to conditions found by health and safety inspectors in 2020 at a building site in Alderley Edge village, Cheshire. Work was being carried out to turn an old bank into offices.
On 8 February Daniel Taylor Builder and Architectural Woodworker Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the act and was fined £20,000. South Cheshire Magistrates’ Court also ordered the firm to pay costs of £1,507.71.
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Company director David William Taylor also pleaded guilty to a breach of the Act and was fined £10. The district judge took into consideration his early plea, positive references, and cooperation with investigators.
He was ordered to pay £1,507.71 in costs.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Sinead Martin said: “This type of proactive prosecution will highlight to the construction industry that HSE will not hesitate to prosecute companies for repeated breaches of the law.
Role in managing risks
Risks found by inspectors included falls from height
“Good management of health and safety on site is crucial to the successful delivery of a construction project and principal contractors have an important role in managing the risks of construction work and ensuring that safety measures are implemented.”
On 9 October 2020 HSE inspectors visited the London Road site in Alderley Edge village and discovered numerous H&S failures.
These included several areas where workers could have fallen from height, a risk of exposure to hazardous substances, and inadequate welfare facilities.
The HSE issued three prohibition notices stopping unsafe activities, as well as five improvement notices requiring the company take remedial action.
On further investigation inspectors discovered that the HSE had already taken enforcement action against the company for unsafe working at height. This related to both a construction site and the firm's joinery workshop.
HSE also found that the company director David Taylor had been acting as site manager but had failed to ensure the required H&S measures were implemented despite the previous interventions.
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