Magistrates have fined a sheet metal manufacturing firm and its
director £10,000 for failing to ensure the health and safety of its
workers.
Anglia Lead Ltd, of Barker Street, Norwich and director Carlton
Edwards were fined at Norwich Magistrates' Court
for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work
etc Act 1974. The company was also ordered to pay full
prosecution costs of £10,556.
The prosecution was brought by the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) after it discovered workers were exposed to high levels of
lead at its factory in Norfolk.
The workers suffered the exposure as they cast molten lead into
lead sheeting, sold for various uses including roofing old
buildings, such as churches.
Magistrates were told workers could have breathed in lead dust;
absorbed the substance into their skin; or ingested it orally, for
example when they ate, drank or smoked a cigarette during breaks or
even after work hours without washing their hands.