Earlier this year, IOSH magazine covered the work of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Rose Leese-Weller, whose investigations had brought a failing local exhaust ventilation (LEV) inspection company to account. Quite aside from Rose’s investigations, though, as part of its ‘Dust Kills’ campaign HSE has also been undertaking proactive and targeted inspections of businesses that use LEVs.
We spoke to HSE inspector Muir Finlay about one such proactive inspection and the subsequent journey to prosecution.
THE INSPECTION
‘In 2022-2023, HSE was conducting an inspection campaign into the woodworking industry. That was part of the Dust Kills campaign and came about due to instances of occupational asthma and ill health. Chris Buckley, who was trading as The Furniture Chest, was chosen simply as one of the approximately 1000 visits we made in 2022 as part of that inspection campaign,’ Muir said.
‘On 7 April 2022, I attended Mr Buckley’s premises and it was evident almost immediately that there was a significant amount of wood dust in the working environment. It was visible on and underneath the benches, and on top of machinery. In some places, the fine dust was several inches thick. That led us to start wondering about if the dust was being controlled and if employees were being exposed to significant quantities of dust during their working days.
‘Enforcement in relation to the control of wood dust was taken following that visit. That required the implementation of a system that would ensure the LEV units in place to remove wood dust from the environment were actually being maintained in an efficient working state and in good repair. The enforcement also required Mr Buckley to do a full clean of the premises and institute a cleaning regime to ensure that dust levels didn’t build up again.’
THE INVESTIGATION
Following the inspection, I discussed the case with my principal inspector. We recognised that enforcement action had been taken on similar issues on previous inspections,’ Muir said.
‘As a result of that – because we had seen the same breaches occur repeatedly – we had to consider whether a prosecution would be suitable. That meant undertaking an investigation so we could see why there were these ongoing issues and what was being done to control the wood dust.’
HE SHOULD HAVE ENSURED THAT HE WAS HAVING THEM EXAMINED IN LINE WITH COSHH REGULATIONS EVERY 14 MONTHS TO DETECT ANY DETERIORATION
Following the start of the investigation, further enforcement action was taken directly requiring the LEV systems to be subject to a thorough examination and test, because that hadn’t been done following the initial visit. Three improvement notices were served on Mr Buckley.
‘As a result of the ongoing investigation and inspection, the decision was made to refer the case to HSE’s Legal Services Division to consider a prosecution, and they then took it forward to court,’ explained Muir.
THE PROSECUTION
At Boston Magistrates’ Court on 9 October 2023, Chris Buckley pleaded guilty to breaching regulations 7(1) and 9(2) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations. He was fined £1,354 and ordered to pay costs of £3,578.