Furniture maker fined for "totally unacceptable" fire provisions

Jocelyn Dorrell | Prosecutions and Claims |
05.11.2008

A Lancashire furniture manufacturer has been fined for a near-complete absence of fire safety measures.

Hyndburn magistrates heard that if a fire had broken out at Icon Design's factory in Blackburn, workers could have been trapped on an upper level, above piles of foam.

Fire alarm cables were snapped, emergency exit routes weren't kept clear, combustible material obstructed escape routes, there was no emergency lighting and fire exits weren't signed.

The upper levels of the factory - where 50 workers were employed to manufacture beds and furniture - were accessible only by ladder.

Fire safety officers inspected the premises in September and issued company directors Keith Hampson, Faisal Akbar and Mohammed Hussain with an enforcement notice.

Chris Caton, fire safety team leader at Hyndburn Fire Station, said the firm had already been issued with a notice several months earlier for another of its premises. He said fire safety provisions were of a totally unacceptable standard and the company "had no regard for the safety of employees".

Icon Design pleaded guilty to fire safety breaches including failing to provide fire alarms and emergency lighting, and was fined £10,000 with £2952 costs.

Director Mohammed Hussain said they had carried out a fire risk assessment and identified the problems themselves, but had been unable to put them right before they were prosecuted. He said the failings were due to the company's rapid expansion.