HSE – IMPROVEMENT NOTICES ISSUED DURING DECEMBER 2025/JANUARY 2026 IN THE FURNITURE AND WOODWORKING SECTOR

Improvement notice 315551804 – IN/LEEDS/CP4/291225/ LB2 Issued as You have failed to ensure the health and safety of your employees in that you have failed to provide suitable and sufficient health surveillance for your employees who are, or liable to be exposed to a substance hazardous to health, namely your employee’s exposure to wood dust.

Improvement Notice 315551810 – IN/LEEDS/CP4/291225/LB3 issued as You have failed to ensure the health and safety of your employees in that you have failed to ensure a suitable and sufficient standard of housekeeping, namely in that you have failed to ensure your workplace and floors are clean and free from obstruction.

IN-SS101225-02, You have failed to provide suitable respiratory protective equipment for your employees who are exposed to substances hazardous to health, namely wood dust. You have provided facemasks for your employees, but you have not provided face fit testing. You have not provided a suitable alternative for employees with facial hair such as air fed hoods. Exposure to wood dust creates a risk of your employees developing Occupational Asthma and/or Nasal Cancer.

IN-SS101225-03, You have failed to fully risk assess manual handling operations at work which involve a risk of your employees being injured. You have not considered whether alternatives such as manual handling aids could be used to avoid the need for manual handling or significantly reduce it.

IN-SS101225-04, You have failed to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk from noise to the health and safety of your employees who are likely to be exposed to noise at or above the lower exposure action value of 80dBA. You have therefore failed to identify the measures which need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations.

Improvement notice I/AS/17122025/002 (315568798) – The washing facilities provided at your workplace do not have a supply of hot or warm running water

INMC/19122025/JBS/02 315538319 You have failed to provide health surveillance to your employees who are exposed to wood dust, which is a substance hazardous to health as it can cause occupational asthma

2)You failed to provide Health Surveillance, where it is appropriate for the protection of the health of your employees who are, or are liable to be, exposed to wood dust, which is a substance hazardous to health, which could cause respiratory disease.

3)You failed to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the tight-fitting respiratory protective equipment provided by you is properly used as no face-fit testing had been carried out and it was being worn by people with facial hair.

4)You failed to prevent access to the dangerous part of machinery, namely the rotating chuck, or stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery before any part of a person enters a danger zone of the Record Power pillar drill (Machine No. DP58P) located on the mezzanine by not fitting a guard.

IN/LEEDS/CP4/7126/S2 – 315568599 You have failed to ensure the health and safety of your employees in that you have failed to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk from noise, namely in that you have failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient noise assessment of site.

Improvement Notice – Workers are using power tools such as a skill saw without appropriate controls in place to adequately control exposure to wood dust.

IN x 2 – 315579084 – Lifting equipment in use at the above premises has not been thoroughly examined by a competent person within the last 12 months.

IN x 3 – 315579088 – You have failed to ensure that employees exposed to a substance hazardous to health, namely wood dust, which can cause irreversible ill-health including occupational asthma and cancer, are under suitable health surveillance and that suitable health records are kept.