Contractor fined for failing to provide toilets for workers

Date:

4 March 2009

Release No:

YH/083/10

A Bridlington building firm boss was today (4 March) fined for not providing adequate toilet and washing facilities for staff on a construction site.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Bryan Ellis Brown, a partner in Bryan Brown & Son, of Flamborough, Bridlington, after finding problems on the site on 23 July 2009.

Bridlington Magistrates Court heard a toilet unit was not plumbed in, and there was no water supplied to sinks in a cabin or adjacent toilet compartment at the construction site for a pair of cottages at High Green, Bridlington.

Following the initial HSE inspection an Improvement Notice was served on Mr Brown as the Principal Contractor requiring the provision of suitable toilet and washing facilities by 17 August 2009.

On a subsequent site visit on 19 August 2009 it was found that the requirements of the Improvement Notice had not been complied with. A sewage outlet had been provided to the toilet, but there was no water supply to the unit. Neither was there any water available at the sinks in the cabin or the adjacent toilet compartment, and no soap or towels were available.

A further site visit on 17 September 2009 found though a water supply had been provided to the toilet unit, and soap and towels had been provided still no running water was provided to the sink units in the cabin or the toilet compartment.

Mr Brown, whose firm trades from South Gable, South Landing Road, Flamborough was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,215 after he pleaded guilty to two health and safety breaches.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Geoff Clark reminded firms they have an obligation to provide basic facilities on site. He said:

"By failing to provide adequate welfare facilities on site, Bryan Ellis Brown subjected his employees to an unhygienic and potentially unsafe working environment. Having access to suitable welfare facilities is a basic human right for anyone engaged in any form of work, and to not provide those facilities is totally unacceptable."

Notes to editors

1. Section 21 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act. 1974 states that: "If there is a breach of statutory duty and a likelihood or continuation or repeat of the breach, an improvement notice may be served specifying actions required within a given time scale. Failing to comply with an Improvement Notice is an offence under Section 33(1)(g) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act.
2. Regulation 22(1) (c) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 states: 'The principal contractor for a project shall ensure that welfare facilities sufficient to comply with the requirements specified in Schedule 2 to above Regulations are provided throughout the construction phase.'
3. More information on health and safety can be found online www.hse.gov.uk

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