A Somercotes-based engineering firm accused of exposing employees and the public to potentially lethal legionella bacteria is facing a crown court trial. Derby Crown Court heard how Chromalloy UK Limited is facing two charges from May 2011 to June 2012 brought by the Health and Safety Executive. The first is that the company allegedly failed to ensure the health and…
A Teesside hospital says it has now received negative legionella test results, after the water supply on one of its wards was affected by the bacteria. But the affected ward at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, will remain closed, until further negative test results are confirmed. Patients at Teesside’s biggest hospital had to be moved from ward 33 to…
More than £200,000 has been awarded to families after a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Richard Griffin, 64, William Hammersley, 79, and Harry Cadman, 71, died in the summer of 2012 while many others were affected. A hot tub on display at the JTF warehouse in Stoke-on-Trent was the “probable source” of the outbreak, the Health Protection Agency said. JTF…
The owner of a hotel in Paignton, Devon, was handed a jail sentence after admitting seven breaches of fire safety rules. Mr David Schofield was given a six month sentence, suspended for two years, at Essex Crown Court this week. The failings were uncovered after a false fire alert brought the property to the attention of inspectors. Guests at the…
David Smith, Export Manager and FIRESA Council Secretary at the Fire Industry Association explains the Fire Safety Order and asks if you know who is legally responsible for fire protection in your premises? The Regulatory Reform [Fire Safety] Order, usually referred to as simply the Fire Safety Order [FSO], was enacted in England and Wales in October 2006 with comparative…
Two companies managing rented properties in Hatfield have been ordered to pay more than £42,000 after admitting breaking fire regulations and other failures in a pioneering prosecution. Taken to St Albans Magistrates’ Court by the borough council, Odus Ltd of Bishops Square, Hatfield, admitted 41 offences on four properties managed for private landlords, and XS Property Management Maintenance Ltd of…
Residents were taken to hospital with burn injuries after fire damaged a block of flats in Buckingham following a petrol tank explosion ‘caused by a back-firing’ bike. The fire in Whitehead Way, at around 4pm on Tuesday, caused damage to the outside of the flats, which are owned by Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust, and also involved a van, car…
The Health and Safety Executive has served a Prohibition Notice on a South Tyneside company as part of an ongoing investigation into an outbreak of Legionnaires disease. The Prohibition Notice stops the operation of four cooling towers at Faltec Ltd site in Boldon where four employees and a nearby resident have been infected by legionella bacteria. Sampling of the water…
Profit was put before lives at a hotel with no fire alarms and no escape route, a court heard today. Stewart Woods, 56, was told he could face jail after admitting breaching a raft of fire safety laws at Sefton Magistrates’ Court. Woods, who still lives at the Norland Hotel in Bath Street, Southport, ignored a prohibition notice from Merseyside…
West Midlands Fire Service said Daljit Singh blatantly disregarded its safety advice on numerous occasions. Singh owned the Hop Pole Inn in Oxley Manor Road, Wolverhampton, and was regularly visited by fire inspectors over a two-year period. But he repeatedly failed to remedy the safety breaches, despite a total of seven visits from fire safety officers, Wolverhampton Crown Court was…