Boss Fined for Ignoring Health and Safety Risks
An owner of a Carlisle pallet manufacturing firm has been fined. The individual was taken to court after health and safety audits revealed fire issues at the factory. He was told many times that fires being lit next to the gas storage area would be dangerous, but he ignored the warnings and written notices.
The HSE stepped in, stating it was not a matter of health and safety training, but an issue of knowing the risks and taking no steps to rectify the issues. If Mr. Ward had taken the warnings seriously and rectified the situation the HSE would not have gone through with a prosecution case against the owner of the factory. The first warning was in 2007 wherein the owner was told not to allow wood to be burnt in open metal drums at his Willowholme Industrial Estate.
In 2009, he was again warned about fires and that safety was needed for controlled burning, yet the HSE was given a complaint about the dangers and thus went to investigate repeatedly. Each time, warnings were issued. It was the 2011 complaint that finally led to the court case. Mr. Ward pled guilty to the offenses wherein he breached the Health and Safety laws under section 3(1). He was fined £10,000 and additional costs for having the issue brought to court, when he was clearly aware of the problem and could have devised a solution to the problem.
