 |  Co-operative Group fined over £200,000 for serious fire safety breachesThursday, 20 May 2010 The Co-operative Group, was fined over £200,000 for serious fire safety breaches at its store in Shirley Road, Southampton. The Co-Operative Group was fined £35,000 for each of the six offences and ordered to pay a total of £210,000, plus costs in excess of £28,000.
The offences came to light after fire safety inspections at the premises which revealed the following findings: - the responsible person failed to maintain the rear emergency exit doors unlocked so that they could be easily opened in an emergency
- the responsible person fitted a lock requiring a security code on the emergency door between the retail and storage areas which could not be easily opened in an emergency
- the responsible person was responsible for a fire alarm call point in the storage area being obstructed, potentially delaying the activation of the fire alarm to give early warning to occupants in the premises
- the responsible person failed to ensure that the store manager was provided with suitable and sufficient fire safety instruction and training
- the responsible person failed to ensure that the fire alarm system was being regularly tested
- the responsible person failed to ensure a means of early detection of fire in the retail area to give early warning to the occupants of the manager’s office to allow a safe evacuation
 | Latest News | | |
|
