Firm’s £16k fine for putting staff at risk

A TEXTILE company has been hit with a £16,000 bill after putting workers at risk.

During a routine visit to Pin Mill Textiles inspectors found some staff using damaged equipment and other staff using fork lift trucks without training.

The firm, based on the Wardley Industrial Estate, in Worsley, had failed to correct problems identified by Salford council’s environmental health officers on a previous visit.

The owners pleaded guilty to one offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974 when they appeared at Manchester Magistrates Court. They were fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,200 in costs.

The court heard that council officers found the company was using a cage lifted by a fork lift truck to raise staff up approximately six metres to work on high level racking but could not prove it had regularly checked the cage as required by law to make sure it was still fully safe to use.

The fork lift truck operator had not received the correct training in use of this equipment and some of the racking was so badly dented it was unsafe to use as items could have fallen from the top.

The court heard Pin Mill Textiles Ltd have since remedied all the faults.