The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) carried out several inspections on Warmsworth Stone Limited, which produces carved stone masonry products using limestone, sandstone, granite and marble, at the company’s Knabs Hill Farm site in Thurnscoe, South Yorkshire starting in May 2023.
Following these inspections, the company was served with seven improvement notices, which covered several failures including exposure to stone dust, control of legionella bacteria and inadequate welfare facilities.
When HSE inspectors returned in September 2023, five of the improvement notices had still not been complied with – despite the company being given an extension to do so following another visit in August.
The HSE said that Warmsworth Stone had shown “reckless disregard” of several health and safety issues including the assessment and control of respirable dust, and the company’s standard of health and safety management was far below what is required by health and safety law, leading to HSE’s prosecution for failure to control the exposure of workers to RCS.
Warmsworth Stone Limited of 1-3 Sheffield Road, Warmsworth, Doncaster pleaded guilty to breaching section 21 of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 by failing to comply with an Improvement Notice, breaching Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 by failing to adequately control employee exposure to a substance hazardous to health namely RCS and breaching Regulation 9(2)(a) the same Regulations by failing to have local exhaust ventilation subject to a thorough examination and test at least every 14 months.
It was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,064.
Director Simon Jonathan Frith pleaded guilty to being a director of a company that had breached Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 by failing to adequately control employee exposure to a substance hazardous to health namely RCS and breaching Regulation 9(2)(a) of the same Regulations by failing to have local exhaust ventilation subject to a thorough examination and test at least every 14 months, those offences being committed with his consent, connivance or neglect.
He was fined £1,062, and ordered to pay costs of £3,782.
HSE inspector Charlotte Bligh said after the hearing: “The company management responsible for health and safety were neither informed nor competent enough to carry out their role under the law.
“Over time, the basic measures to secure the health of all on site had not been taken, there had been no attempt to assess health risks and existing control measures had not been properly maintained.
“The company failed to take the initiative in health and safety matters and seek guidance, instruction and competent advice on implementation and communication of those measures necessary to control the risks at the site.
“The provision of suitable protection for worker’s health is a basic requirement that this company has failed to meet. HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate action against those that fail to comply with the requirements of enforcement notices.”
