Serious fire-safety breaches cost Asda                                  

National food retailer Asda Stores Limited has been ordered to pay more than £55,000 in fines and costs for committing serious fire-safety breaches at a store in Berkshire.

Appearing at Reading Crown Court on 6 June, the firm pleaded guilty to two charges brought under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The case had received an earlier hearing in February at Reading Magistrates’ Court, but was referred to the Crown Court, where a number of further charges were brought into account.

Royal Berkshire Fire Authority (RBFA) brought the charges following an inspection of Asda’s store in Cippenham, near Slough, by fire-safety officers on 24 June 2010. The court heard that the breaches presented a serious and life-threatening risk, not only to the staff who worked in the store but also to customers and other members of the public.

Counsel for the prosecution, William Clegg QC, told the court that the inspection, which was carried out following a complaint, identified serious breaches to fire-safety regulations, including:

• two fire-exit doors chained and locked shut;
• obstruction of fire-escape routes;
• combustible items obstructing fire-exit doors and escape routes; and
• fire-exit doors wedged open.

The court also heard that the company had previously been served with a caution in July 2000 for two contraventions relating to other fire-safety regulations.

Offering mitigation, Matthew Turner QC, stated that the company treated fire-safety regulations very seriously and set out the company’s policies and procedures that it had in place to support this. He also highlighted that the company cooperated fully with the Fire Authority, and pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing.

Summing up, Judge Grainger recognised Asda Stores’ guilty plea and mitigation, but underlined that the breaches were very serious. He fined the company £20,000 for each offence, with full costs totalling £15,647 awarded to the Fire Authority.

David Walden, the Authority’s fire-safety legal support manager, said: “This was a clear case of a major retailing company failing to comply with fire-safety regulations and, by doing so, placing people at serious risk. It also provides further evidence that some businesses continue to treat compliance with fire-safety legislation as an option – it is not.

“Staff and customers are entitled to feel safe when working at, or visiting, a supermarket, or any other business. We will continue with our efforts to ensure that any business owner, or manager who refuses to take these obligations seriously will be brought before the courts.”

Restaurant payout

The owner of a Chinese restaurant has pleaded guilty to 16 offences under the Fire Safety Order for failures relating to a loft conversion. An inspection of the Tang Chinese Restaurant in Cambridge by fire and environmental health officers in 2011 found the loft space had been converted into living accommodation with inadequate means of escape and no fire alarm system or emergency lighting. Owner Xueling Teng went on to breach a prohibition notice that was served. He was fined just £2,000 for the breaches plus £1,000 costs, due to the nature of his finances

Print firm fined after flash fire injuries

 

A printing company has been fined £12,000 after two workers were burned in a flash fire when vapours from a flammable cleaning fluid ignited.

The two men – employed by Delta Display Limited in Walthamstow, northeast London – suffered burns and one suffered serious breaks to both legs as he tried to escape the fire in a print room last May.

In a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the court heard that the workers had been using a solvent to hand-clean the ‘blankets’ of a printing press – a regular task to clear the build-up of ink. The solvent, called QE3, had a flash point of -20°C.

When a flash fire suddenly ignited, one of the men jumped from the press over a safety rail to escape, shattering his left ankle, fracturing his right heel and sustaining burns on his right calf and left arm – injuries which saw him off work for at least four months. The second worker received burns to his arms. Fellow staff were able to extinguish the fire.

The court heard that the firm had ignored guidance given by the printing press manufacturers that there was a danger of fire and explosion if any cleaning agent with a flash point below 55°C was used.

If the company had completed a sufficient risk assessment, they would have identified that using the solvent as a cleaning agent with this type of press was dangerous, and they could have substituted it for a safer cleaning material.
The company introduced ‘safer alternative days’ after the incident, but made little effort beforehand to consider the risks and put a system of work in place that would better protect their workers, said the HSE.

Delta Display Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 and was fined £12,000 with £5,250 costs.

Huge blaze breaks out at London DIY warehouse

Fire crews are tackling a blaze which broke out in a DIY warehouse in east London.

 

Around 50 firemen and ten fire engines were called to the facility in Chingford at around 3pm yesterday (4th April), the London Fire Brigade said.
Upon arrival, crews from Chingford, Tottenham, Edmonton, Woodford and Walthamstow fire stations discovered half of the building alight.

A staff member at the nearby E4 Health and Fitness claimed that the affected building was a former Focus superstore.

"We are hemmed in at the moment, that's all," she said. "It is the Focus building which is on fire. I can see it from here."

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment must be conducted on all commercial properties in England and Wales.

If the fire risk assessment is deemed to be carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or a prison sentence of up to two years.

The cause of the blaze is currently unknown.

Berkshire pub gutted by fire

A pub in Eversley near Finchampstead, in Berkshire, was destroyed by fire on Wednesday morning.

 

Crews from Wokingham, Reading, Yateley and Hartley Wintney were called to the Tally Ho pub at 4am after flames were seen protruding from the roof.

The Bracknell News reports that 50 per cent of the roof and top floor were destroyed by the fire, with an aerial ladder from Reading required to tackle the blaze.

A Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: "It was well alight in the roof when crews got there. The flames were out by 5.30am and they have been damping down since then."

It is not yet known what caused the fire and an investigation will be launched shortly.

The news follows a Bank Holiday Monday blaze at a derelict pub in Conisbrough, South Yorkshire.

The Castle Inn fire required crews from Dearne, Maltby and Edlington to tackle it, but no evacuations from surrounding properties were required

Salford hotel owner pleads guilty to fire safety breaches

The owner of a hotel in Salford has pleaded guilty to several breaches of fire safety regulations.

Sultan Chaudhry, the owner of the White Lodge Hotel in Cheetham Street West, pleaded guilty to ten breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 at Manchester Magistrates' Court on April 4th.

Fire safety officers from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) discovered a range of fire safety issues at the hotel after a blaze broke out in the premises on April 13th 2011.

Concerns were raised after a guest from the first-floor had to be rescued by crews despite the manager claiming that no one was inside the property.

Officers discovered faulty fire alarms, empty fire extinguishers, inadequate escape routes, no emergency lighting on one escape route and that a fire door had been removed.

There was also no suitable fire risk assessment in place and staff working at the hotel had not received adequate training, prompting officers to slap a prohibition notice on the hotel to prevent people from staying there.

Peter O'Reilly, from GMFRS, said: "This could have been a very serious incident.

"It is unacceptable for a hotel business not to have proper procedures in place and put lives at risk."

Swindon DIY store damaged in blaze

 

A DIY store in Swindon has been damaged after a fire broke out in a backroom on Saturday morning (14th April).

Fire crews were called to Ron's Stores in Rodbourne Road at around 12.35am after a member of the public alerted the emergency services to the incident, reports the Swindon Advertiser.

Officers used six breathing apparatus, three hosereels, a main jet and positive pressure ventilation to bring the blaze under control within around two hours.
An estimated £1,500 worth of stock was destroyed in the fire, while the roof, ceiling and fittings were also damaged in the blaze. Fire doors ensured that flames did not spread to the rest of the store.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment must be conducted on all commercial properties in England and Wales.

If the fire risk assessment is deemed to be carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or a prison sentence of up to two years

London landlord fined for housing regulation breaches

A London landlord has been fined for breaching housing regulations and failing to provide adequate fire protection equipment.

Hassan Akhtar Niazi, the owner of a house in multiple occupation ( HMO ) in Balham, pleaded guilty to four offences under the Housing Act at Richmond Magistrates' Court on March 28th, having been prosecuted by Wandsworth Council.

He was fined more than £6,500 for three breaches of the Management of HMO Regulations and failing to licence a HMO .

Mr Niazi, of Vant Road, was found to have failed to provide fire doors, fire fighting equipment or a mains wired alarm system.

Council inspectors also found that 15 people were living inside unsanitary rooms in the three-storey flat. The communal stairway was obstructed by clothes, shoes, furniture, household articles and refuse, while environmental health officers deemed the kitchen to be "filthy" and the bathroom and toilets to be unsanitary.

Under the Housing Act 2004, properties of three or more storeys with five or more tenants who share amenities are required to be licensed

Planned fire safety changes to Building Regulations

 

Proposed changes to the Building Regulations in England – including a move to scrap the fire protection provisions in Local Acts and new steps to improve enforcement – have been issued for consultation by the Government.

Many of the planned changes are intended to strip away regulation, either because it is an unnecessary cost burden or there are other ways to achieve the same outcomes.
The proposals include repealing the fire protection provisions in Local Acts – discretionary powers that some local authorities have, which apply over and above those in the national Building Regulations. ‘This will free-up businesses from the costs of these requirements, which apply inconsistently across the country,’ says the Government.
Other changes being planned include minor amendments to the technical guidance in the Approved Document B guidance to resolve practical problems in the application of Requirement B2, covering internal fire spread (linings). There are also proposals relating to Part P of the Regulations, dealing with electrical safety in homes, which seek to reduce compliance costs for installers and consumers.
Steps to make the building control process more efficient and strengthen enforcement of the regulations are also outlined – including increasing the maximum fine available, introducing new compliance notices, and improving competition between building control bodies.
The proposals can be found via the ‘Consultations’ section of www.communities.gov.uk. Responses must be received by 27 April 2012, with the Government aiming to bring into force the main changes next year.

Hotel and director fined £210,000 in landmark fire safety trial

A London hotel has had to pay more than £260,000 in fines and costs in what is believed to be the first jury trial of a case under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The Chumleigh Lodge Hotel Limited and its sole director, Michael Wilson, had pleaded not guilty to a total of 12 offences under the Fire Safety Order. The trial took place at Blackfriars Crown Court between 28 November and 6 December 2011 and sentencing was on Monday 6 February.

The offences date back to 18 May 2008 when London Fire Brigade was called to a fire at the hotel on Nether Street in Finchley, north London. The blaze had spread quickly from a first floor guest bedroom, up a staircase to the floor above and along a corridor.

Three people escaped from the fire, two by using the stairs and a third by climbing out of a second floor window.
Following the blaze, fire safety inspectors visited the hotel and raised a number of concerns. These included defective fire doors, blocked escape routes and no smoke alarms in some of the hotel’s bedrooms. Mr Wilson was also unable to produce a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and was found not to have provided staff with adequate fire safety training.

The fine was divided between the individual defendant, Michael Wilson (£180,000) and the corporate defendant, Chumleigh Lodge Hotel Limited (£30,000). The defendants were further ordered to pay prosecution costs of £50,000, and compensation of £2,000 to the guest who escaped through a second floor window.

The company was found guilty of six offences, while Mr Wilson was found guilty of ‘consent or connivance in the commission’ of those same offences:

• Failure to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of risk (article 9);
• Failure to provide staff with adequate safety training (article 21);
• Failure to ensure emergency routes from the premises are kept clear (article 14);
• Failure to adequately equip premises with fire detectors (article 13);
• Two counts of failure to ensure premises, facilities, equipment or devices are maintained in an efficient state, in working order and in good repair (article 17)
;

“Business owners have a clear responsibility under fire safety law to ensure that both the public and their employees are as safe as possible from the risk of fire,” said Brian Coleman, chairman of London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.

“This verdict sends out a clear message that if these responsibilities are ignored we will not hesitate in prosecuting and people will face serious penalties.”