Co-op burned £250,000 for 13 fire breaches

Prosecutions and Claims |
15.10.2007

The Co-operative Group (CWS) has been fined £250,000 for fire safety offences at its Sussex stores. A Hove judge handed the retailer one of the highest fines in a fire safety case where there was no death or injury for a string of offences at six Co-op branches.

Alerted by an environmental health officer at Hastings Borough Council, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (ESFRS) inspected the Co-op store at London Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, in July 2006. An ESFRS officer found various breaches, including an inactive alarm, fire doors wedged open, and escape routes used to store combustible shop stock.

Since the Co-op had been prosecuted for fire safety failings at another Sussex store only three months earlier, ESFRS decided to inspect all 41 of the retailer's branches across the county.

"As a result, we issued some form of deficiency notice to 38 of them," head of technical fire safety Peter Cox told HSW.

The failings at six of the stores were serious enough to form the ESFRS's case against CWS, with a total of 20 sample charges, of which the company eventually pleaded guilty to 13. The breaches included lack of any written risk assessment at two stores, fire exits sealed with security bolts at two others, and a complete absence of alarms at two more.

CWS had told the fire service the problems stemmed from the rapid acquisition of stores from the Alldays group and other chains which had "iffy, substandard" property stock.

"But that's no excuse," said Cox. "If you are spending millions buying a chain you should budget for enough to bring them up to the required spec before trading."

He said he was surprised to find that, with a portfolio of 4,500 outlets, CWS had no dedicated fire safety specialist in its central health and safety team and noted the group relied on local store managers to carry out fire risk assessments, though they lacked the necessary knowledge.

"We are still not convinced that the risk assessments they have are suitable and sufficient," said Cox. "But we are discussing that with them with a view to improving things."

On 14 September at Hove Crown Court, the Co-op was fined £250,000 for 13 charges under the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 - since superseded by the Fire Safety Order - and ordered to pay ESFRS costs of £11,000.

A spokesperson for CWS said the group could "assure our customers that procedures are now in place to avoid any similar breaches of health and safety regulations."