CB Homes Limited was carrying out work at a site on Bunbury Lane in Alpraham when it was visited by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) on 23rd March 2023. Inspectors found that the company had failed to provide workers with adequate facilities for washing their hands.
It was not the first time the company had failed to provide welfare facilities; the HSE had taken enforcement action on three prior occasions. It is a legal duty for companies to provide workers with suitable welfare facilities.
In an unusually speedy prosecution (for the HSE, whose cases can take years and years to get to court), Chester Magistrates Court this week heard CB Homes Limited of High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire plead guilty to breaching Regulation 13(4)(c) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,984.
HSE inspector Sara Andrews said: “This company showed a flagrant disregard towards the health of its own workers. It’s a legal requirement to provide suitable welfare facilities, including a clean supply of warm water to enable workers to wash their hands in what is often a very dirty environment.
“The provision of suitable washing facilities is key to ensuring that the risk of workers developing some health conditions is adequately controlled. It’s also basic hygiene and the right thing to do. Failure to provide them is a serious matter and, when a company falls short, we will take action. In this case, repeated failure has resulted in prosecution.”