A Gloucester fencing company ignored orders to provide access to hot running water for staff and to ensure its local exhaust ventilation system was working.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served both Improvement and Prohibition Notices on the company ordering them to properly protect its workers from wood dust and dangerous machinery at its premises.
The offences came to light following a complaint about the site and several notices were served on the company following a visit by a HSE inspector in March 2010.
The notices covered a range of areas including requiring a thorough examination of a local exhaust ventilation system for the prevention of exposure to wood dust and providing running hot water within reasonable access of the premises.
Around a month after the compliance date, the inspector visited the site and found two of the improvement notices had not been complied with.
The company pleaded guilty to two breaches of Section 33 (1) (g) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Gloucester Magistrates Court.
The company was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,369.
Following the hearing, a HSE Inspector said:
"This firm disregarded notices that were issued to safeguard the health of its own employees.
"Compliance with prohibition and improvement notices is a legal requirement and the notices cannot be disregarded in this way.
"Ignoring notices is unacceptable and puts the safety and welfare of workers at risk. Also, as this firm discovered to its cost, it is liable to end up in a prosecution."
Fencing company fined £5,000 for ignoring prohibition notices from the HSE