A London property developer has been fined £63,000 after safety inspectors found health and safety failures “so serious” that a construction site in East London had to be closed on two separate occasions.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated Nofax Enterprises following four visits to its site on Dalston Lane over a 13-month period between 2020 and 2021.
The company was overseeing the construction of a four-storey building on the site, containing nine flats and a large basement to house a youth club.
HSE inspectors identified serious failures, including multiple working at height risks, poor fire precautions and exposure to large amounts of silica dust. These led to the site being shut down twice.
Other breaches of the law included failing to protect workers from exposure to wood dust, as well as insufficient covid and welfare controls.
The HSE served nine enforcement notices against the company for the Dalston Lane site, including five prohibition notices.
Subsequent inspections at other sites operated by the company identified a poor health and safety culture and systemic management failings.
Nofax Enterprises Ltd, of Maldon, Essex, pleaded guilty to breaches of sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on 18 March 2025.
The company was fined £63,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,622.
Total disregard of safety
After the hearing, HSE inspector Gordon Nixon said: “This company showed a total disregard to keeping its workers safe.
“They failed to meet even the most basic health and safety standards, continually exposing operatives to serious risks.
“HSE will not wait until workers are seriously injured, or worse, and will take appropriate action including prosecutions when health and safety regulations are so blatantly flouted.”
