Ignoring Warnings, Unsafe Workplaces: The cost of Complacency

Inova Stone Ltd, a manufacturer of stone kitchen worktops, has been fined £60,000 for its persistent failure to protect workers from exposure to hazardous dust.

Over a six-year period, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted nine visits to Inova Stone Ltd's premises in Slough. Despite these repeated inspections, the HSE consistently found minimal or no improvement in several critical areas of concern regarding worker safety.

A particularly alarming discovery emerged during a visit prompted by concerns about unsafe working practices. HSE inspectors were reportedly "stunned" when employees openly admitted that "no one is in charge of health and safety" at the company. This stark revelation highlighted a profound lack of accountability and a complacent approach to statutory duties.

Inspectors subsequently identified multiple breaches of health and safety regulations, including a significant failure to adequately control exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS). Further observations underscored the severity of the hazard. Significant levels of dust had accumulated on the workshop floor, with shoe and boot prints clearly visible in the settled dust. This widespread dust, combined with a notable lack of effective control measures such as local exhaust ventilation, indicated a pervasive and uncontrolled risk to employee health.

Beyond the dust exposure, HSE inspectors also found that Inova Stone Ltd routinely allowed workers to use unguarded machinery, posing a risk of severe injury. Additionally, heavy stone slabs were not being stored safely, further endangering employees.

As a direct result of the most recent inspection, Inova Stone Ltd was served with four improvement notices. The subsequent HSE investigation revealed that similar enforcement action, including improvement notices, had also been taken against the company four years earlier, in 2017.

Inova Stone Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and to three charges for failure to comply with an improvement notice. The company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £7,363 in costs at Staines Magistrates' Court on 20 May 2025.

After the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector Karen Morris said, “Inova Stone Ltd failed to comply with legal notices requiring them to make improvements and repeatedly showed a lack of commitment to managing health and safety.

“We were stunned when employees told us that ‘no one was in charge of health and safety’.

“After being provided with advice and guidance over several years, the company had plenty of opportunities to comply with the law, yet they consistently failed to do so.

“The fine imposed should send a clear message to employers that the risks from working with engineered stone must be taken extremely seriously.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyers Jayne Wilson and Rebecca Schwartz as well as paralegal Melissa Wardle.