Cardiff takeaway operator gets a custodial sentence for food hygiene offences

Posted by Now Cardiff on Jan 14, 2013

A local food business operator who was successfully prosecuted by Cardiff Council last month for a range of food hygiene offences linked to an outbreak of E.coli O157 in August 2011 has today been sentenced to an eight months custodial sentence with immediate effect by Newport Crown Court.

The sentencing follows a previous hearing held at Cardiff Magistrates Court on December 21, 2012, where Mr Diar Wali Ali, the registered food business operator at the Adonis Kebab House, City Road, Cardiff – pleaded guilty to all charges Cardiff Council brought against him.

In total there were 23 charges brought against Mr Ali for various food hygiene offences that were committed at the Adonis Kebab House. An E-coli outbreak in early August 2011 was traced to the Adonis Kebab House and the premises were closed by the Council on August 12 2011, on the grounds of health concerns following an unsatisfactory inspection by Environmental Health Officers.

Councillor Derek Morgan, Chair of Cardiff Council’s Public Protection Committee, said: “Local people and visitors to Cardiff have a right to expect that food served in Cardiff’s food businesses is safe to eat and has been prepared in hygienic conditions.

“However, where poor hygiene practices and substandard conditions are found, we take immediate action to safeguard public health.

“I hope this case helps to show how seriously we take this commitment and demonstrate that, where appropriate, we will use the full force of the law to ensure food safety regulations are met.”

Mr Ali will serve four months in custody and four months in the community.

This case relates to an outbreak of E.coli O157 that occurred in South East Wales in August 2011.

An Outbreak Control Team was set up in light of the incidents, which was made up of representatives from Public Health Wales, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Food Standards Agency and Environmental Officers from Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan and Rhondda Cynon Taff Councils.

In total, the Outbreak Control Team investigated nine microbiologically confirmed cases of E.coli O157. One of the cases involved the young victim being hospitalised and having to undergo dialysis as a result of the poisoning.

E.coli O157 is a serious bacterial infection that causes abdominal pain and diarrhoea. The symptoms of E.coli O157 range from mild diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever to bloody diarrhoea. Most people recover without complications, but the most severe cases can develop kidney failure.

RWE npower and contractor AMEC fined half a million pounds after death fall at Aberthaw

Posted by Now Cardiff on Jun 13, 2011

Energy giant, RWE npower and contractor AMEC Group Ltd must pay a total of £510,000 after a maintenance worker fell to his death at a South Wales power station.

The firms were sentenced over the incident that saw agency worker Christopher Booker from St Athan, fall around 12 metres through an unprotected opening in a platform at Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan on the evening of Sunday 10th June 2007.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that work was being carried out to insert equipment into a large deep pit in the water cooling system to hold back the seawater when the tide rose. Sections of the floor gratings at the top of the pit had been removed to allow the work to proceed.

Mr Booker was working with eight other workers who had been called in to carry out urgent modification work on the equipment in order to ensure an effective seal of the pit.

The unguarded opening through which Mr Booker fell

As the natural light faded, electric lights were turned to face those doing the grinding work which left the top of the pit in near darkness. Mr Booker fell through the opening in the walkway to the floor below. He died of multiple injuries to his chest and pelvis.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) showed that a large opening in the walkway was left unprotected after the floor gratings had been removed, and inadequate precautions had been taken to protect people working near it.

The investigation also identified that there was confusion and misunderstanding between RWE npower and principal contractor AMEC Group Ltd as to who was responsible for controlling the work at the time of Mr Booker’s death.

RWE npower Plc, of Windmill Hill Business Park, Whitehill Way, Swindon, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Today at Cardiff Crown Court, they were fined £250,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 costs.

The principal contractors, AMEC Group Ltd, of Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 11(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. They were fined £200,000 with costs of £30,000.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Caroline Bird said:

“This tragic case highlights the consequences of failing to do something as simple as adding protection to an opening in a walkway.

“Inadequate planning and a poor choice of safety control measures meant that a very obvious hazard remained.

“Both companies had a duty of care to Mr Booker that they failed to meet – with catastrophic consequences. This awful incident could so easily have been prevented had the correct safety measures been taken.

“Employers have a duty to manage the risk of falls from height, including providing protection around the edge of openings. It is completely unacceptable this sort of risk was not managed.”