The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has served a formal Improvement Notice on a North Wales vehicle repair business after inspectors found the company was failing to monitor workers exposed to hazardous chemicals used in paints and adhesives.
PBT Vehicle Body Repair, based in Llanrwst, Conwy, was issued the notice on July 22, 2026, for not ensuring employees exposed to isocyanates — highly reactive chemicals found in durable coatings and adhesives — were under suitable health surveillance. The action was taken under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002, which require employers to protect workers from harmful substances.
The HSE has given the company until August 26, 2026, to implement documented remedial actions. Failure to comply with an Improvement Notice is a criminal offence that can result in unlimited fines or personal liability for directors.
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Food Manufacturer Fined £120,000 in Related Case
The notice against the Conwy firm comes just days after a significant prosecution involving similar respiratory health risks. On July 17, 2026, Puratos Limited, a food manufacturer, was fined £120,000 at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court following an HSE investigation.
Inspectors found that employees at the company’s Buckingham facility were at risk of developing occupational asthma due to inadequate dust controls. Dust was escaping from leaking machinery, and the use of compressed air lines for cleaning had increased airborne concentrations of hazardous particles. Workplace monitoring reports confirmed that inhalable dust levels exceeded legal exposure limits. The manufacturer was also ordered to pay costs of £6,270.
HSE Targets Long-Term Health Risks
These enforcement actions align with the HSE’s 2026 strategic priorities, which place a heightened emphasis on long-term health risks such as occupational lung disease and musculoskeletal disorders. Earlier in July, the regulator took the landmark step of issuing its first-ever Prohibition Notice against an occupational health service provider.
In that case, inspectors found the provider was delivering surveillance services through personnel who were inadequately trained and unsupervised. The HSE emphasised that substandard health surveillance is a critical failure, as it prevents the early detection of irreversible conditions such as dermatitis and noise-induced hearing loss.
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Economic Cost of Workplace Ill Health Reaches £22.9 Billion
The latest enforcement activity coincided with the release of the HSE’s quarterly statistical summary on July 21, 2026, which detailed fatal injuries occurring between April and June 2026. While the summary focuses on accidental deaths, the regulator highlighted that the economic cost of all work-related injury and ill health in the UK has reached approximately £22.9 billion annually.
The HSE has signalled a more proactive inspection regime for the remainder of the year, planning approximately 14,000 site visits targeting manufacturing, construction, and other sectors where exposure to hazardous substances remains a high-incidence risk.
