Firm fined £32k
A BEDDING company who ‘showed a complete disregard for safety’ has been fined.
When a council officer asked the bedding firm’s boss what health and safety training staff had received he revealed he just told them to use common sense.
Staff at Early’s of Witney Ltd’s warehouse in Salford were left to use damaged and dangerous ladders and racking and were at risk of heavy boxes toppling onto them, a court heard.
A Salford council officer said there had been ‘a complete disregard for safety’ and it was one of the worst examples of poor health and safety standards he had ever seen.
The company failed to make changes after being served with two improvement notices.
The company, which has now made the safety improvements, has been fined £32,000 and ordered to pay costs of almost £5,000 after admitting the breaches.
The dangerous state of the warehouse was discovered by an environmental health officer from the council during a routine inspection.
Yet when he tried to point out the issues and the seriousness of the situation to the manager on site, Mr Adnan Ali, he became angry or walked away.
When asked about risk assessments, which are required by law, Mr Ali said he didn’t know what they were and had never seen one, while company director Mr Ghuzanfar Ali, who said he was responsible for staff health and safety training, said he told them to use common sense.
Mr Ghuzanfar Ali of Early’s of Witney Ltd appeared at Salford and Manchester magistrates court and pleaded guilty to two offences under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act . The firm was fined a total of £32,000 for the offences and costs of £4,914.44 were also awarded.
A judge had planned to fine the firm £54,000, but reduced it to take into consideration guilty pleas.
The court was told that the officer visited the warehouse at Devonshire Road, Worsley , on August 15th 2016 for a routine inspection. The company sells bedding products, such as duvets and pillows, which are stored in boxes weighing up to 17.5 kilos.
The company is still trading and safety improvements have now been made.