Construction firm slapped with £100k fire safety fine

Construction firm slapped with £100k fire safety fine

Welsh firm admit failings

A Welsh construction firm has landed a fine totalling £100,000 after admitting to fire safety breaches at its timber frame construction site, reports the Construction Enquirer.

J G Hale Construction Ltd came under investigation by HSE after making an unannounced visit at the site.

Inspectors found that measures to prevent a fire starting and getting out of control had not been properly taken, the houses under construction had little fire protection, there was a lack of site management control, insufficient means to detect a fire and raise the alarm, poor control of ignition sources and a general lack of emergency planning.

Improvement Notices were served regarding fire and vehicle safety issues and these were complied with after two further inspection visits.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Liam Osborne said: “Hale Construction had been given plenty of warnings about fire-safety and traffic risks in the recent past, including from HSE.

“Timber-frame houses are perfectly safe once they’re finished and protected, but when under construction they can be very dangerous.

“Stringent fire-safety standards need to be in place well before the build starts, and then maintained and monitored”.

Original source: Construction Enquirer

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