15/12/2010 - Builders' lives endangered at bar
A construction firm has been fined after workers' lives were put in danger at a Manchester karaoke bar.
Music Box Karaoke Ltd admitted breaching health and safety laws at Trafford Magistrates' Court after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found it had ignored a series of fire safety precautions while building the K2 nightclub.
The inquiry found large amounts of discarded cardboard and other packaging around the site on George Street during construction
When HSE inspectors visited the site on January 28 2009, they discovered potentially flammable materials stacked up to the ceiling in the basement, while some escape routes completely blocked and others were not marked.
Neil Martin, the investigating inspector at HSE, said: "We were called in after receiving a complaint about the safety standards on site and were shocked by what we found. The basement and corridors were blocked with waste materials so it would have been extremely difficult to escape in a fire.
"There was a Chinese restaurant open to the public on the first floor and the neighbouring buildings were also occupied. Just one spark could have set light to any of the piles of cardboard, and then dozens of lives would have been put in danger."
Music Box Karaoke Ltd, of Greengate Industrial Estate, Greenside Way, Middleton, admitted breaching Regulations 14(1), 16(a) and 21(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and was fined £6,000 with costs of £3,313.
Site manager Marc Royle, 37, of Lambton Road, Worsley, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 38(a), 39(1) and 41(1) and was fined £450 with costs of £2,710.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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