Cleaning firm fined for death of staff

A company was ordered to pay £60,000 yesterday after it was found guilty of breaching health and safety regulations following the deaths of two cleaners who were killed when the fluid they were using burst into flames.

Glenn Whalley, 28, and Antony Redfern, 40, suffered serious burns when they were cleaning a changing room at Holmes Place Gym in Nottingham. The two cleaners died later in hospital.

Their bosses, Norman Cliffe and Justin Amos, who ran the companies sub-contracted to finish off building work, were cleared by a jury at Leicester Crown Court of manslaughter.

The court heard how Cliffe had bought huge quantities of the fluid to remove grout from floor tiles. Sam Mainds, prosecuting, said there was inadequate ventilation in the changing room.

Simons Construction were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs after it failed to obtain safety documents for the equipment being used.

Cliffe, 58, and Amos, 42, were fined £5,000 and £2,500 respectively and ordered to pay £100 costs each. Project manager Graham Garside, 60, of Ingham, Lincolnshire, was found guilty of failing to protect the safety of the workers and was fined £750 with £200 costs.