Failing to provide warm water in a site toilet that was not kept clean cost a company in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, an £8,000 fine plus £1,814.90 costs when it appeared before Manchester Magistrates on 16 July.

The Magistrates heard how the company, R & S Builders (Mcr) Ltd of Sovereign House, Stockport Road, had been issued with multiple Improvement Notices following an inspection by a Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Inspector on 7 July 2018 at the company’s site at Great Underbank, Stockport. The company complied with the notices relating to fire safety and respiratory risks, but showed no evidence of doing anything to meet the minimum standards of health, safety and welfare in the toilet.

And this was not the first time. R & S Builders had been subject to enforcement action by HSE in 2017 that included an Improvement Notice in relation to the lack of adequate welfare provisions at a different site.

R & S Builders pleaded guilty to breaching Section 21 of the Health & safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 13(4) of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015. 

HSE inspector Chris Brookes-Mann said after the hearing: “Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards. Furthermore, 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 Improvement Notice was served."