Residential property management company Hatchmere Park Ltd has been fined after failing to comply with HSE enforcement notices about unsafe construction work at a site.
The prosecution follows a visit by HSE in March 2015 to the construction site at Falcon Park, Devon where “serious health and safety failings” were observed.
Exeter Crown Court heard the HSE visited the site after being alerted by the Local Authority that unsafe construction work was taking place.
The HSE inspector discovered serious health and safety failings, with some homes at risk of succumbing to landslips due to the failure to shore up two different retaining walls. Residents could also have fallen two to four metres down unguarded drops, and cars could also have fallen down an unprotected bank.
HSE and Torbay Council investigators found multiple safety failings. There was overall a failure to take reasonable steps to manage the construction work without risk to the health and safety of both workers and residents.
The company failed to comply with improvement notices served by both the HSE and Torbay Council, relating to site security including the fencing, perimeter and signs that identify the construction site.
History of failings
Hatchmere Park Ltd of Nottingham Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire pleaded guilty to a total of eight charges laid by both HSE and Torbay Council for a failure to comply with the enforcement notices.
In addition, the company admitted breaching Regulation 9(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, requiring project clients to take steps to ensure that the arrangements made for managing the project ensure construction work can be carried out without risk to the health and safety of any person.
The company also pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 which requires similar action from clients and was fined a total of £90,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,000.
Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Helena Allum said: “This company has a history of failing to comply with health and safety enforcement notices, in this case putting residents, some vulnerable, at risk of an accident, which was not acceptable.
“This case highlights the importance of properly managing construction work from the outset and demonstrates what can happen if companies fail to take action when issued with enforcement notices.”
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