Furniture maker fined for unacceptable fire provisions - 13/08/2009

A furniture manufacturer has been fined for a near-complete absence of fire safety measures. Magistrates were told that if a fire had broken out at their factory, workers could have been trapped on an upper level, above piles of foam. Fire alarm cables were snapped, emergency exit routes were blocked, combustible material obstructed escape routes, there was no emergency lighting and fire exits weren't 'signed'.

The upper levels of the factory - where 50 workers were employed to manufacture beds and furniture - were accessible only by ladder. Fire safety officers inspected the premises and issued three Company Directors with an enforcement notice.

A spokesman for the Fire Service said the firm had been issued with a notice several months earlier at another of its premises, where fire safety provisions were of a totally unacceptable standard. The Company pleaded guilty to fire safety breaches including failing to provide fire alarms and emergency lighting, and was fined £10,000 with £2952 costs.