Dental Lab Hit With Large Fine For Ignoring Health Warnings

Mon, 07 Sep 2009

A dental laboratory which specialises in producing dentures, gum shields and other dental products has been slapped with a £4,000 fine for ignoring a health and safety notice.

In March 2008 the Rossford Dental Laboratory in Manchester received an Improvement Notice following a visit from a Health and Safety inspector, who found the site to be "extremely unclean, putting the health of workers at risk".

The dental company failed to comply with the Improvement Notice within the two-month agreed deadline and was subsequently taken to court.

The Swinton-based lab pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,500 at Trafford Magistrates Court last month.

HSE Inspector Matt Greenly said: "When I visited the site last year, I was surprised by the filthy state it was in and had no choice but to issue an Improvement Notice. It was especially disappointing as Rossford had previously received a similar Improvement Notice and had complied with it."

"I therefore expected the company to be well aware of the basic need to keep the site clean. But there were layers of debris everywhere, the sinks were blocked and waste materials had been allowed to build up throughout the premises."

"I agreed with the company's owners that two months would be a reasonable period for the improvements to be made, but when I went back at the end of May the laboratory was in a similar state."

He added: "Improvement Notices should act as a wake-up call for companies to improve their health and safety procedures, for their own and their employees' benefit. Unfortunately, in this case, Rossford appears to have ignored the warning and carried on as normal."
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