18/01/2011 02:45 PM
A Leicester-based construction firm has been fined £4,000 and ordered to install security fencing and warning signage around the site of a factory it was demolishing after an inspection by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the building was in danger of collapse.
Leicester Magistrates' Court heard that Saleh Properties Ltd endangered the lives of both its employees and the public while it was demolishing a disused factory in Leicester in April last year.
A HSE inspector stopped work and issued prohibition notices when he saw workers removing structural parts of the factory without properly supporting it. Some employees were seen on the roof, demolishing parts of the building by hand.
The firm was ordered to install security fencing and put up safety signs to make sure members of the public kept away from the building.
Saleh Properties Ltd was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,084 after pleading guilty to breaching regulations of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and two breaches of Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Inspector Stephen Farthing said: "Saleh Properties showed a horrendous disregard for health and safety which was not only putting workers at risk, but also passing members of the public going about their daily lives. There was a real danger of this building collapsing.
"The site supervisor had no training in health and safety, no method statements or risk assessments had been carried out before the work started and there were no welfare facilities for workers."
According to the regulator, there were 35 deaths in the workplace caused by falls from height in 2008/9.
Leicester Magistrates' Court heard that Saleh Properties Ltd endangered the lives of both its employees and the public while it was demolishing a disused factory in Leicester in April last year.
A HSE inspector stopped work and issued prohibition notices when he saw workers removing structural parts of the factory without properly supporting it. Some employees were seen on the roof, demolishing parts of the building by hand.
The firm was ordered to install security fencing and put up safety signs to make sure members of the public kept away from the building.
Saleh Properties Ltd was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,084 after pleading guilty to breaching regulations of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and two breaches of Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Inspector Stephen Farthing said: "Saleh Properties showed a horrendous disregard for health and safety which was not only putting workers at risk, but also passing members of the public going about their daily lives. There was a real danger of this building collapsing.
"The site supervisor had no training in health and safety, no method statements or risk assessments had been carried out before the work started and there were no welfare facilities for workers."
According to the regulator, there were 35 deaths in the workplace caused by falls from height in 2008/9.
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