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Shell fined record £300,000 for putting staff at risk of fire
Peter Dominiczak3 Jun 2009
Shell has been fined £300,000 for breaches of fire safety laws at its London office.
The oil firm was ordered to pay the fine plus £45,000 costs after ignoring safety recommendations for more than three years. It is the largest fine ever imposed by the Regulatory Reform Order, which deals with fire safety regulations.
Shell was prosecuted after two fires broke out in three weeks in York Road, Waterloo. Inspectors found "extensive breaches" of regulations including blocked escape routes and defective doors.
Parts of the building were sealed off until the problems were solved in January 2007.
Investigators also discovered that Shell's fire risk assessment had not been reviewed since March 2003 - despite recommendations that assessments should be updated every year. Assistant commissioner for fire safety regulation Steve Turek said: "Shell failed to respond properly to their risk assessment for three and a half years and had it not been for the fires which led to the inspection, it could have been considerably longer.
"Had Shell acted upon the findings of the 2003 risk assessment at the time, they would have avoided putting their staff at risk."
London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: "This conviction shows that major companies are not exempt from prosecution and must take their responsibilities under the Order seriously."
The company pleaded guilty to three breaches at Inner London Crown Court following fires in December 2006 and January 2007.
A Shell spokeswoman said: "We want to emphasise there were no injuries to people or damage to property relating to this.
"We are sorry for the shortcomings and we put things right immediately at the time."
