26/10/2010 - Company fined over noise levels
A Lancashire-based company that makes flooring surfaces for horse riding centres has been fined £16,000 after it failed to reduce noise levels at its factory.
Equestrian Surfaces Ltd, of Burnley, was also ordered to pay £11,000 costs after it ignored formal warnings about noise levels which were putting its staff's hearing at risk.
The company was given two extensions to an Improvement Notice requiring a reduction in their daily noise exposure levels. Employees at the factory on Phoenix Way had to work for several hours a day near a machine that can reach volumes up to 98 decibels - as loud as a chainsaw.
Burnley Magistrates' Court heard that the company failed to put any practical measures in place to reduce workers' exposure to noise, even after receiving an Improvement Notice and being given advice from a specialist HSE inspector. A further HSE visit with an independent scientist showed that, although some changes had been made, the employees' daily noise exposure remained high and the changes fell short of what could and should have been achieved. The firm pleaded guilty to breaching healthy and safety regulations by failing to comply with an Improvement Notice.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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