Hotel fined £70,000 after three employees are hospitalised
Fredrick's hotel in Maidenhead has been fined £70,000 after three employees were hospitalised following two separate accidents.
Two receptionists became ill and started vomiting after being asked to use strong acids to deep clean the swimming pool in March 2015, while another employee was burnt using a ‘decarboniser' which ran at 82°C.
After the accidents were reported, council officers visited the hotel and found a number of health and safety breaches, including insufficient training for some cleaning tasks.
Improvement notices were served to Art Hotels and management company Premier Cru Hotels and the business was ordered to employ a safety expert to carry out assessments.
After a council investigation, Premier Cru Hotels admitted breaching the Health and Safety At Work Act at Slough Magistrates' Court in March. It was fined £3,300, ordered to pay costs of £5,145 and compensation of £500 to each of the three injured employees, plus a £170 victim surcharge.
Art Hotels also admitted breaching the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974 and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,095 plus a £120 victim surcharge.
Councillor Carwyn Cox, the Royal Borough's cabinet member for environmental services, said: "I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of the team of people who brought this matter to a successful prosecution.
"This shows the council's commitment to ensuring people working in the borough do so safely."
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