Cambridgeshire Stonemason Brought to Book by Protesting TV Viewer
Mastercrafts, a BBC2 television series hosted by Monty Don, featured a stonemasonry business, Atelier 109 Limited based in Cambridgeshire. This was in March 2010. A viewer expressed concern to the HSE that the exposure to stone dust by employees would lead to lung diseases if adequate precautions were not taken.
HSE inspectors responded by making an inspection of the premises within a month or two and found insufficient precautions for safety and health and served an improvement notice on the company to act immediately to make arrangements for a healthier environment and to reduce the dust levels to within the safety limits.
Improvements were made but not enough. When the HSE inspectors returned to check in February 2011, they found that the ventilation was far below par and served a further notice. Atelier ignored the notice and when they visited, again 6 months later they were booked! Dust levels were still hazardous at several times the safety level.
At the Peterborough Magistrate Court in Etton, Atelier was charged with breaking the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 section 33(1) (g). They pleaded guilty. The company was fined £5000 plus a further penalty of £1400.
HSE Inspector, Alison Ashworth was heard to have commented after the hearing that although they were too glad to get into the limelight on TV, they were not so glad to take action in improving the standards of their employees.
An IOSH Training Course, accredited by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, provides all the advice and information needed for managers to successfully manage appropriate policies and procedures and improve upon management skills to help organisations find the best ways to lead and promote health and safety.