A bakery company has been fined for safety breaches after employees suffered long term exposure to flour dust.
Leeds Magistrates’ Court was told that between April 2002 and April 2016 employees were consistently exposed to risks to their health, with some being medically diagnosed as suffering from occupational asthma. The HSE point out that flour dust is a respiratory sensitiser.
The HSE’s investigation found there was no effective method of control to prevent the dust becoming airborne and employees being exposed to breathing in the dust.
Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd of Caxton Way, Pindar Business Park, Eastfield, Scarborough pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £159,080 with costs of £4,594.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Geoff Fletcher commented: “Exposure to flour dust in an industrial setting can cause serious and debilitating health effects.
“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards”
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
Maintaining a position of denial to justify expedient omissions of doing nothing like, you know, just have to deal with it “if, it appens” rather than knowing it is a “when, it appens” scenario especially, against the backdrop of the ” Baker v Quantum Clothing & Others ” let alone introduction of the Equality Act has to so shortsighted or as myopic as ignoring eye-strain, CVS, Screen Fatigue in DSE operators trusting that your insurance company is going to be able to pay them off and have a gagging order in place before it reaches court……