Week in week out directors are learning this lesson the hard way. Some through their wallets and some through loss of their freedom.
Two directors at a furniture warehouse were hit in their pockets when a small fire, which was quickly put out, led to a disturbing discovery. The warehouse is on two floors. The ground floor is used for storage and the first floor is used as a showroom. The fire itself was confined to the external flue of the boiler. The fire service arrived and quickly put it out. While the crew of the fire engine were satisfying themselves that the fire hadn't spread to any other parts of the warehouse they became somewhat concerned. It wasn't the fire that got them worrying - it was lack of fire safety provisions.
A fire safety officer was immediately summoned. Upon arrival the inspecting officer found, in technical jargon, a number of breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It's a bit of a mouthful but business owners are finding that it has sharp teeth and can bite! Some of what the breaches translate to physically can be seen in the photographs below. They were taken at the time by Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service.
The breaches included:
- Complete obstruction of fire exits
- No Fire Risk Assessment
- Poor housekeeping
- No reliable means for raising the alarm in the event of a fire
- No maintenance of fire safety systems
- Lack of emergency lighting
The warehouse was nearly shut down there and then had certain faults not been rectified immediately.
Showhouse Furniture Ltd and two of its directors pleaded guilty to 12 offences. They were ordered to pay fines and costs of over £12,000. The convictions will not be spent until October 2016.
The magistrates were even moved to comment on the case. They said the directors failed in many respects as directors and had placed their employees at serious risk. They also noted that the directors had put profit before safety and that this was unacceptable.
It should be remembered that on top of the fines and costs the directors also had to pay for the breaches to be corrected.
Now, if only they had done that first...
