3rd October 2017
Recycling firm fined £100k after H&S failings
Multiple failures at a recycling firm have resulted in large fines after Monoworld Recycling were found guilty of breaching numerous regulations.
Enforcement Notices
The court heard how the HSE had issued the business with a staggering 15 enforcement notices in less than two years; furthermore three specific notices were even served on each of the two company directors.
The notices covered a range of topics including work at height, work equipment and electrical matters.
The company failed to:
- manage risks when its staff worked at height • maintain work equipment • control risks from electrical systems.
The HSE investigation found fork lift trucks were left with broken lights and windscreen wipers, marring drivers’ visibility. Emergency stop buttons on machinery were identified as broken but not repaired over a long period of time.
The HSE also discovered employees were instructed to carry out work at height even after a Prohibition Notice was served and staff felt pressurised to complete their work even when they had raised concerns about their safety!
Negligence
Monoworld Recycling Ltd of Irchester Road, Northamptonshire pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, Regulation 5 of the Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 4 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. The company was fined £83,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,000.
The two company directors were also charged and sentenced to 26 weeks imprisonment (suspended for 12 months), 150 hours community service and over £30,000 in fines and costs between them both.
Speaking after the HSE inspector involved in the case said: “The Company’s failings in this case have put their workers at risk from serious personal injury. It was clear the overall approach to business risk was haphazard at best, with a culture of negligence, for which the two directors were ultimately responsible.’’
