A window manufacturing company has been fined after pedestrians filmed workers carrying out unsafe work during an installation project in London.

Ideal Glazing (Euro) Ltd of 29, The Green, Southall, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to breaches of Regulation 6(3) and 10(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

It was fined £36,000 with over £1,300 in costs.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard how the company was carried out window installation work at Aldford House in Park Street between 19 and 20 January 2015.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an investigation into the work after a pedestrian provided photographs of workers learning out of window openings eight metres above the ground.

A video was also taken showing workers dropping part of a window onto the ground below, narrowly missing another pedestrian.

-- Advertisement --

The work was halted by HSE after it served a Prohibition Notice (PN).

HSE said the company had failed to provide equipment such as scaffolding which would have prevented the workers and window falling. In addition, none of the workers had received any formal training and no one was appointed to supervise the work.

As well as the associated risks not being sufficiently assessed, the court heard the company had failed to invest in equipment for working at height and had a health and management system which relied entirely on the company’s managing director, Mr Rashinda Joshi, despite his lack of relevant training and experience.

Previously, the company had been given advice by HSE in connection with work at height and that an audit by Ideal Glazing’s bank had previously identified a range of relevant health and safety failings.

The court heard that neither written warning was heeded by the firm.

HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said: "Ideal Glazing (Euro) Ltd put the lives of workers and members of the public at risk. People should be able to walk down a pavement without being exposed to the risk of a heavy window falling eight-metres onto them."

"The company's standards were appalling, and this was particularly unacceptable as previous warnings had been blatantly disregarded."

"This is a case where equipment such as scaffolding was not provided. It's vital that law abiding companies have confidence they will not lose work to others who underquote them because they take shortcuts at the expense of safety.

"Thanks to the member of the public who alerted us, we were able to avoid the workers or any pedestrians being injured or killed."

(LM)