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Contractor fined for failing to provide toilets

A Bridlington building firm boss has been fined for not providing adequate toilet and washing facilities for staff on a construction site. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Bryan Ellis Brown, a partner in Bryan Brown & Son, of Flamborough, Bridlington, after finding problems on the site on 23 July 2009 which the firm then failed to remedy. Bridlington Magistrates Court heard a toilet unit was not plumbed in, and there was no water supplied to sinks in a cabin or adjacent toilet compartment at the construction site. Following the initial HSE inspection an improvement notice was served on Mr Brown, the principal contractor, requiring the provision of suitable toilet and washing facilities by 17 August 2009. On a subsequent site visit on 19 August 2009 it was found that the requirements of the improvement notice had not been complied with. A further site visit on 17 September 2009 found the problems were still not fully resolved. Bryan Ellis Brown was fined £2,000 and costs of £1,215 after he pleaded guilty to two health and safety breaches. After the hearing HSE inspector Geoff Clark said: 'By failing to provide adequate welfare facilities on site, Bryan Ellis Brown subjected his employees to an unhygienic and potentially unsafe working environment. Having access to suitable welfare facilities is a basic human right for anyone engaged in any form of work, and to not provide those facilities is totally unacceptable.'

HSE news release.

Briefing document (300 words) issued 12 Mar 2010