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Tuesday 23rd July 2019
From the archive: Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an inspection of R&S Builders' site in Great Underbank, Greater Manchester, on 7 July 2018 when it issued several improvement notices.
The company subsequently complied with the enforcement notices for fire safety and respiratory risks but failed to take heed of an improvement notice requiring the site to meet the minimum standards for health, safety and welfare.
The HSE said the welfare facilities were in a "poor condition" with no hot or warm running water and that R&S Builders did not provide evidence of compliance with the notice within the deadline.
The company was previously subject to enforcement action by the HSE in 2017 that included an improvement notice relating to the absence of adequate welfare provisions at a different site.
R&S Builders pleaded guilty to breaching s 21 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and reg 13(4) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. It was handed a £8,000 fine and ordered to pay costs of £1,815 at Manchester Magistrates' Court.
HSE inspector Chris Brookes-Mann said after the hearing: "Companies that fail to comply with an improvement notice in the time allowed can expect to be prosecuted since this is a criminal offence in its own right, regardless of the circumstances under which the original notice was served."
