01 May 2013
A tool supply firm has been fined £27,000 after a failure to maintain electrical systems and equipment put workers’ safety at risk.
Hertfordshire company Arrow Tools (UK) Limited did not properly maintain hammers, grinding machines and other equipment, Watford Magistrates’ Court heard.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified the failings during an inspection on 19 November 2009 and subsequently served four Improvement Notices on the company over an 18-month period.
One of those was a management improvement notice, which the firm ignored.
Two extensions were granted to comply with the notices but further inspections on 12 Nov 2010 and 7 April 2011 revealed that risk management practices remained unsatisfactory.
After admitting a breach of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, Arrow Tools was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in costs.
HSE inspector Peter Burns said after the hearing that effective management systems are the best means of controlling risks.
Companies are legally obliged to protect their workers’ health and safety and to comply with improvement notices, he added.
Copyright Press Association 2013