Lincolnshire firm ‘greatly regrets’ incident that led to £23k fine

A Lincolnshire firm fined over £23,000 for installation work at a food factory, which was later condemned as unsafe, said “we greatly regret this incident” and has since put “effective procedures” in place.

Gas engineering company Glen Farrow UK Ltd, of Glendum Close in Pinchbeck, Spalding, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The firm was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,131.60 after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Lincoln Magistrates’ Court heard last month the firm carried out the installation of a liquid LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) bottle filling system at the food preparation company during January and February 2018.

An inspection by the LPG supplier on February 13, 2018 found numerous defects in the installation which put the safety of workers at the factory at risk.

An investigation by HSE found that the company took on work that they did not have the competencies for. HSE said the firm failed to plan the work adequately and to specify the correct materials and design for the installation.

It was found that the engineer the company sent was not competent to work on a liquid LPG installation of this sort. HSE said that when asked to quote for this work, Glen Farrow UK Ltd should have realised that it was outside their competence and subcontracted it to a company with expertise in liquid LPG installations.

Mike Powell, Managing Director at Glen Farrow UK Ltd, told The Lincolnite: “We greatly regret this incident, which fell below our normally high standards of Health and Safety.

“Health and Safety is key to our work at GlenFarrow and this case from February 2018 is the only HSE investigation in our 50 year company history.

“It was, as the judge acknowledged, a one-off incident in which no one was hurt and he commended Glen Farrow for the extent and nature of our co-operation with the HSE.

“He further commented that he was impressed with the Health and Safety work done since, noting the effective procedures GlenFarrow now have in place.”

Speaking after the recent court hearing, HSE inspector Martin Giles, said: “Gas engineers must understand that certain tasks are not part of their normal functions and should only be done by competent contractors.”