Lincolnshire firm fined £20,000 over unsafe LPG work

A Lincolnshire company has been fined £20,000 after its employee carried out defective LPG work that that they were not competent to do.

Lincoln Magistrates’ Court heard that Glen Farrow UK Ltd installed an LPG bottle filling system at a food preparation factory near Spalding in January and February 2018. An inspection by the LPG supplier on 13 February 2018 found numerous defects in the unsafe installation, which put the safety of workers at the factory at risk.

The HSE, prosecuting, said Glen Farrow UK Ltd took on work for which it did not have the competencies. It failed to plan the work adequately and to specify the correct materials and design for the installation. The engineer who carried out the work was not competent to work on an LPG installation of this sort.

The HSE said the company should have realised that the work was outside its competence when it was asked to quote and should have subcontracted it to a company with LPG expertise.

Glen Farrow UK Ltd of Glendum Close, Pinchbeck, Spalding, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,131.60.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Martin Giles said: “Gas engineers must understand that certain tasks are not part of their normal functions and should only be done by competent contractors.”