Car dealership firm Dobies has been hit with a notice from the Health and Safety Executive.

The company – which is based in Lillyhall, Workington – was criticised for scaffolding violations by the Government body.

It issued an enforcement notice in January calling for immediate changes, but the information has only just been published.

The company’s owner, Bill Dobie, insists it took swift action to fix the issue.

He said he has also invited inspectors to revisit the site to see the improvements which have been made.

The enforcement notice related to scaffolding at a construction site in west Cumbria.

Neither the executive nor Dobies have given the exact location of the site.

Problems highlighted included:

  • Handrails were missing at the working lift
  • Reaching through a scaffold with a lifting machine was “an unsafe system of work”
  • There was not enough edge protection to stop someone falling from a height
  • The lighting was inadequate and there was no firefighting equipment

At first the HSE issued a prohibition notice – which recommends that activity should stop until changes are made – but this was later changed to an improvement notice, which solely calls for changes.

“This was all rectified extremely promptly,” Mr Dobie said.

“Within a week to 10 days we had followed all of their advice and put it all in order.”

This has included appointing a firm with expertise in health and safety, which has staff visiting regularly and making changes in personnel.