Hotel failed to report accidents

Prosecutions and Claims |
25.03.2008

A hotel in Worcester has been fined for safety breaches after a series of accidents involving young employees.

Staff at the Pear Tree Inn and Country Hotel suffered various injuries including scalded feet and cuts. In one case an employee was knocked unconscious. Two of the five injured employees were under 18 years old.

One teenager was taken to hospital after slipping on a wet floor and cutting his hand on a glass bowl, while another burned his foot after filling a bucket to mop the floor with hot water from a tea machine.

The hotel company admitted seven breaches of health and safety legislation, including failure to ensure the health and safety at work of employees and failure to carry out proper risk assessments. The hotel also admitted failing to provide the local authority with written notification of five accidents.

Worcester Magistrates' Court heard that the hotel had been advised of the need to conduct risk assessment on three occasions between October 2005 and November 2006.

Jack Walsh, defending, said the firm had employed health and safety consultants and kept an accident book for staff to record incidents. He said "there was no conscious decision by the company to put profit before safety." Since the accidents the hotel has taken steps to improve health and safety management.

Worcester magistrates fined the firm £5,600 with costs of £2,083.