Scarborough Borough Council have prosecuted Harbour View Whitby Ltd, which operates Harbour View Restaurant on Baxtergate in Whitby.
 |
| [relatedPosts title=”Related Posts”] |
|
|
At a court hearing at Scarborough Magistrates Court on Friday 17 May the company was fined a total of £4815 for five offences under the Gas Safety (Installations & Use) Regulations 1998, the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 and the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992. The company was also ordered to pay £800 costs to the council, to cover investigatory and case preparation expenses.
Our investigations began in May 2012 when a potentially dangerous and obsolete gas hot water boiler was found in the kitchen of the Baxtergate restaurant. A Gas Safe registered engineer later certified the boiler unsafe to use. With no piped hot water serving the premises due to the faulty boiler, safe food hygiene operating procedures were compromised. The use of small counter top hot water boilers, normally used for filling teapots was not considered acceptable as a substitute for a piped hot water supply.
At a later date, safety mats laid on the slippery tiled kitchen floor were found to be unsafe in themselves, with severely curled up edges creating a tripping hazard for kitchen staff.
After initial written warnings, both Health and Safety and Hygiene Improvement Notices were served on the company. Revisits revealed that they had not been complied with, so we proceeded to court.
During the court hearing, Roy Pearson, the Company Secretary of Harbour View Whitby Ltd, entered guilty pleas and stated by way of mitigation, that upon buying the premises, the kitchen modernisation was a “third stage priority”.
Steve Pogson, Health and Community Safety Manager said:
“Here we have an example of our officers going to great lengths to try and help a business meet its legal responsibilities. The operator had absolutely every opportunity to act on and make good the deficiencies found. However despite written warnings and the service of legal notices, the company failed to rectify dangerous conditions in their premises, and this resulted in the court appearance and fine.
“It is essential that all business operators take their health and safety and food hygiene responsibilities seriously, taking heed of all written warnings issued by our enforcement officers. Our officers are here to help but we will prosecute when necessary.
“I am pleased to note that the company has now rectified the faults.”
