During a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation relating to a separate issue, serious issues were uncovered with the construction and maintenance of the electrical system at a plastics manufacturer in Suffolk.
The Sudbury-based manufacturer, Techplas, were fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £5,930 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Electricity at Work Regulations SI 1989/635.
The court were told how HSE inspectors found:
Guards had also been removed from a plastic forming machine, exposing heating elements that could become dangerous as soon as the machine was switched on. HSE served three Prohibition Notices on the company ordering urgent improvements to be made.
After the hearing HSE inspector Saffron Turnell, said:
"The state of the electrical systems at Techplas was simply appalling and it is only a matter of luck that nobody had been injured or electrocuted. Employers have a duty to ensure the workplace is a safe environment and this must include electrical installations, whether or not the work carried out at their premises directly involves electricity."
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