Health and safety failings at construction firm

A construction company has been fined after an inspection revealed some key failings.

T Richard Jones Ltd was working at a church in Swansea when Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors arrived as part of a routine inspection. They were told that the site manager was on holiday, which was an initial breach, and went on to find inadequate washing facilities, workers not wearing protective glasses and some employees working at height without sufficient safety measures in place.

The HSE concluded that the company had failed to protect the health, safety and welfare of its workers and T Richard Jones pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Swansea Magistrates' Court. It was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,658.

HSE inspector Phil Nicolle said, after the hearing: “This company put the safety of its own workforce at risk by failing to ensure the site was managed by a competent person, and the catalogue of failings suggested a lack of regard for workers' health, safety or welfare.”