Company fined for failing to produce insurance certificate

A manufacturer of steel pipework has been fined for failing to purchase compulsory insurance to protect its employees. Essex firm Ductwork Environmental Services Ltd was fined £1,000 at Harlow Magistrates' Court today and ordered to pay £750 in costs.

The Company could not produce a current Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI) certificate when a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector visited the premises in June 2010.

HSE Inspector David King said, "The Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires all employers to have insurance to cover employees for injury or ill health caused whilst at work. Failure to have such insurance could leave any employee who has an accident, or suffers ill health because of work, unable to obtain compensation for their suffering, which potentially leaves employees doubly vulnerable. This case should serve as a warning to all employers about how seriously the HSE takes this issue."