Firm fined for dangerous site conditions
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A BURY ST Edmunds firm has been fined £10,000 after inspectors found dangerous conditions at its site, including an LGV that regularly reversed 100m between two mushroom growing sheds.
In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, Bury St Edmunds Magistrates’ Court was told how, following a tip off in September 2010 from St Edmundsbury Borough Council, inspectors discovered several safety failings at the Suffolk Mushrooms facility.
The gates on the work platforms, which were used by the mostly Eastern European employees to reach the highest mushroom beds, were propped open, and a truck regularly reversed 100m between the two growing sheds where people might be walking.
Inspectors also found that equipment was being towed around unsafely with pieces of knotted rope, and forklift trucks were being operated by drivers who were not properly trained.
Suffolk Mushrooms admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was also ordered to pay £8,446 costs.
John Claxton, HSE inspector, says: “What we discovered at this farm was very disturbing.
“It is difficult to believe that workers can be exposed to such unnecessary risks.”