Industry news
Firm 'failed to protect employees'
Posted Fri, 16 Jul
A car wash company has been convicted in its absence for failing to purchase compulsory insurance to protect its employees.
Essex-based Prowash Systems Limited, which operates a car wash in Rayleigh, was handed a £6,750 fine at Southend Magistrates' Court.
Prowash Systems Limited did not produce a current Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI) certificate when asked by the Health and Safety Awareness Officer from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in December 2009, the court heard.
Employers are required to show to an ECLI certificate immediately when requested by a HSE official. Prowash failed to do this and was given an ELCI "notice to produce", but it failed to comply. Representatives from the company were then called to an interview with HSE inspectors, but they did not attend.
Magistrates heard the case in the company's absence after representatives did not attend court. They found it guilty of five breaches of Section 1(1) of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, for failing to hold ELCI.
Magistrates also found the company guilty of breaching Section 4(2)(b) of the same Act, for failing to produce a valid ELCI certificate upon request. The company must also pay a further £1,000 in costs.
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