Fine for painting firm which caused explosion

Brookes and Gelling Limited appeared at Douglas Courthouse last week where representatives from the company pleaded guilty to three health and safety offences.

 

The company failed to discharge duty and failed to comply with regulations in April last year after carrying out renovation work on Devonshire Road.

 

As part of the work in the property's kitchen the firm had contacted an external engineer to remove the gas appliances and replace them with electric. 

 

However the engineer failed to turn up on site and employees from the firm carried out the work instead despite not being on the Gas Safe Register. 

 

The prosecutor told the court they were not "qualified or competent" to do so - as a result the gas pipes were not properly disconnected. 

 

Four months later, on September 2nd, the homeowner attempted to turn on her gas fire which sparked an explosion in the kitchen - it was then discovered they'd also been left unsealed. 

 

In court the company's advocate said it "entirely accepted responsibility" but had been "badly let down" by the engineer who was supposed to do the work. 

 

Admitting staff shouldn't have removed the gas appliance in the first place he said the company was "extremely apologetic for having dropped the ball" adding it was a "one off mistake". 

 

Sentencing the company Magistrates said it was "extremely fortunate" no one was injured telling the representatives "We trust you have procedures in place to prevent a similar incident in future".