Flirt With Luck

Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd (EWR), formerly known as Matrix Direct Recycle Ltd, is a company that recycles electrical equipment. Among other electrical equipment the company recycles fluorescent light tubes containing mercury and TV sets and monitors containing lead.

Between October 2007 and August 2008 the ventilation system of the company was functioning ineffectively and failed to completely remove the harmful emissions from the equipment recycled here. During this 10 month period, work at the company continued as usual, as a result of which the employees of the company were exposed to toxic fumes of mercury and lead.

Many employees were found suffering from ill health as a result of exposure to the harmful gases. A pregnant worker was also concerned that her unborn baby was at risk from the toxic emissions. Almost twenty employees were diagnosed with serious health problems. They had high levels of mercury far above UK guidance levels in their systems. Five of these employees were found to have exceptionally high levels following the exposure.

Judges at the Bradford Crown Court, where the case was heard, came down heavily on the company and its director Craig Thompson. EWR was directed to pay a total fine of £140,000 and ordered to pay £35,127 costs. The company was found guilty of breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, three separate breaches of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, and one breach of the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002. Mr Thompson was found guilty of breaching Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and was fined £5,000. The HSE also issued a Prohibition notice and five Improvement Notices to EWR.

Workplace Law Training & Consulting is equipped to provide professionally accredited training in key areas of workplace law and practice, with well-established study programmes for IOSH and NEBOSH courses. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) training will enable those responsible to identify and assess hazardous substances in the workplace and enable companies to put together plans to prevent and control these substances so that businesses and their employees can work safely. See IOSH Course, for a range of training covering the important health and safety issues in the workplace, which can be tailored to the needs of the individual organisation.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 4:25 am and is filed under Business News, Hall Of Health, Lawyers Network. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.