'Stick to rules' warns Mendip boss hit by fine

By sforrester

A  boss has warned small businesses to stay on top of paperwork after being bit by "crippling" £10,000 fines and costs which threatened to close his company.

Neil Macdonald admitted when he appeared before magistrates in the summer that West Bradley-based Westcountry Ground Force Ltd breached Health and Safety At Work regulations by failing to make a proper risk assessment and provide training.

It followed an accident in June 2007 which seriously injured two employees when the cherry picker they were in toppled over.

This week Mr Macdonald appealed against the punishment at Taunton Crown Court, claiming the hefty bill could sink the orchard management company.

He won the bid and the court reduced the £6,000 fine to £2,500 and cut the costs from £4,000 to £1,500.

After the case, he said: "The original fine would have been a devastating blow to us and we are thrilled to have had it reduced.

"I accept there was a degree of fault, but what I did not accept was that the courts seemed to be trying to kill a small business. I lost all faith in the justice system when the original ruling was made, but that has been restored thanks to a very good judge.

"We carried out training and risk assessments but we did not have the paperwork to back it up. I would warn small businesses to know the law and make sure they have a paper trail. A lot of small operations are really hands-on, but they should not underestimate the risks they are running with regard to proper paperwork. My message is: be sure you know the law and that you are following it.

"The minute you become an employer, you have a massive responsibility. If you want to use a piece of equipment, you need to have the proper training and licences, as well as the paperwork to back it up. I think the businesses out there which don't do this properly are running a huge risk and are undercutting the businesses which try to follow the rules."

As a result of the accident, one of the men suffered a fractured shoulder and the other suffered a badly cut leg. They had been picking walnuts from a tree. The original prosecution was heard at Frome Magistrates' Court on 11 July.

At the appeal hearing on Friday, the crown court heard that Westcountry Ground Force, which has been running for two years and employs five people, had done its best to invest in proper equipment and the court took the view it was an isolated lapse. An investigation later showed that the ground beneath the cherry picker was "boggy", which was not apparent on the surface. The court recorder said it was "an entirely proper" prosecution, but they had considerably more information than the magistrates had and it would be wrong to impose a sentence which would crush the company and "amount to a commercial sentence of death for it".

In allowing the company 12 months to pay, he said: "We are very mindful that small companies in this day and age have precarious financial circumstances."