A factory boss whose negligence led to the deaths of two employees was found guilty of manslaughter. Ian Morris (48), of Bilhay Lane, West Bromwich, had denied failing to implement a safe working environment at his paint-stripping factory, ENG Industrial Services, in Black Lake Industrial Park, West Bromwich. Birmingham Crown Court heard that the two employees, Ghulam Sarwar and Mumtaz Hussain, died after being intoxicated by a cloud of poisonous vapour in August last year. They were found slumped in a restroom after 22-year-old Mr Sarwar had desperately tried to phone for help before being overcome by the fumes. The jury was told the factory's main business at the time was stripping paint and varnish from wood and metal. John Saunders QC, prosecuting, said ENG had a contract to strip aluminium wheels, which meant dipping them into vats of dichloromethane (DCM), before power-hosing them. Father-of-one Mr Hussain, aged 43, had been working in the industry for several years, while Mr Sarwar, who had a small child, had worked at the factory for just a few days before he died. The men had been working on a night shift and were discovered by fellow employees at 7am the following morning. Mr Saunders added: "Morris paid lamentably little regard for health and Safety legislation. Had he done so these two men would have been alive today and their tragic deaths would have been avoided." Sentencing was adjourned for reports. Morris was granted conditional bail. Speaking outside court, Azam Chouhan, Mr Hussain's nephew and Mr Sarwar's uncle, said the family were thankful their four-year ordeal was finally at an end. "An inquest recorded a verdict of unlawful killing last year and we were determined to push this through to its conclusion," he said. "Ian Morris has never apologised for my relatives' deaths, and the trial has caused a lot of old memories to resurface. The sentence is yet to come but at last we are moving towards the end, and the jury made the right decision. "This verdict sends out a message to industry as a whole that you cannot ignore health and safety at work because it costs lives." | 
