Hire company fined for health and safety practises
A hire company that lets equipment is fined for breaching safety and health rules. The Swindon-located company provided unsafe working areas and practises for employees and those who let the equipment. It is known that they ignored repeated health and safety warnings from the HSE. The HSE served four notices to the company that were ignored. It was not until 2011 that the notices finally closed down operations when the HSE went in to conduct health and safety audits again. The notices were given for forklifts, telehandlers, and failing to inspect the equipment before it was hired out. Anyone using the equipment during a hire job could have been injured because of the state of the equipment’s disrepair. The notices were to help protect employees and consumers from injury, but non-compliance was found after the notices were served.
The company was found guilty of three different breaches of Section 33(1) of the safety and health at work act. The fine was £800 with £1,215 pounds in additional costs. It seems a small fine for such a severe violation. The company was definitely aware of safety considerations, but they are only seeing a small fine. Perhaps it is because no one was injured while the company ignored the warnings and the fine will be enough of a lesson that it will never happen again. If not the court may need to levy a larger fine and more stern warnings later on.
