Failing to test wood dust extraction system costs firm £10,000

Ignoring wood dust safety concerns at a joinery workshop resulted in a company receiving a heavy fine this month. A non BWF-member company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after it failed to comply with an enforcement notice requiring its wood dust extractor at its Dukinfield site to be properly tested.

Trafford Magistrates’ Court was told an HSE inspector issued an Improvement Notice during a routine visit to the Park Road workshop on 13 July 2013, after it emerged the company had not arranged a recent test of its extraction system. Wood dust can cause serious health problems, including cancer of the nose, if it is inhaled. Woodworking firms are therefore required by law to put measures in place to prevent dust becoming airborne, and to make sure extractors are tested at least every 14 months. The court heard that the company was given just over eight weeks to comply with the enforcement notice, but asked for an extension on the day before it was due to expire. The firm was then given another four weeks to arrange a test but it again failed to meet the deadline.

The Stockport company, was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,662 after being found guilty of a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to comply with an Improvement Notice.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Emily Osborne said:

“The firm put its employees’ health at risk by not arranging for its wood dust extraction system to be tested. We gave the firm several chances to arrange for an engineer to visit the workshop over a three-month period, but it failed to take any action. We therefore had no choice but to prosecute – the latest figures show carpenters and joiners are four times more likely to get asthma compared with other workers in the UK.”

This month’s topic as part of the Health & Safety Hero Campaign is Wood Dust.

Our new video (www.bwf.org.uk/campaigns/health-and-safety/wood-dust) seeks to provide guidance as to how to effectively deal with these and the practical measures to be taken in controlling wood dust. A missing guard on a machine is obvious, but in the case of wood dust, this may not be immediately apparent to the harm being caused to an individual.
As well as viewing the video (www.bwf.org.uk/campaigns/health-and-safety) you can also:

– Download and adapt our PowerPoint Presentation on Wood Dust for your company, and deliver to your staff.

– Use our Safety Essential Checklist for Wood Dust

The safety of your workers is of prime importance. The BWF's comprehensive 91 page Guide to Health and Safety in the woodworking industry includes guidance on young persons in the workplace and with HSE recovering costs at a rate of £1000/day for inspections during which a breach is found, BWF has prepared a number of resources to help you mitigate Health and Safety risk such as:

– A 12 point ‘Health and Safety: the essentials’ checklist to help prevent you getting caught out and advice on what HSE field inspectors are looking for in our Health and Safety publications.

– As a member you can also ring our Health and Safety helpline on 0844 209 2610.