Serious injury at glass manufacturing company
A glass company and ventilation system engineering firm have been fined after a contractor suffered serious injuries.
Shield Ventilation Services was contracted to undertake work at the Peterlee Glass Company alongside a further two contractors. An employee of Shield Ventilation Services was injured during the dismantling of an industrial box oven, when he fell from the top of the oven landing on the ground.
The injured person was placed into an induced coma at the scene by paramedics due to the severity of his injuries. The injured party suffered a fractured neck, sternum, skull, and collarbone and has permanently lost the sight in his right eye.
The HSE found that the dismantling work had not been properly planned by the contractor, and that contractor control by the glass company was inadequate.
- Peterlee Glass Company Limited, was charged under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health and safety”.
- Further, Neil Shield (trading as Shield Ventilation Services) was charged under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”
Farm fined for fracturing gas pipeline
A farm worker was operating a tractor and subsoiler when he struck and fractured a gas pipeline causing a major gas leak.
The pipeline was known to have shallow cover as it had been previously struck during subsoiling operations in the same field in 1997. The farm failed to inform, instruct, or warn employees of the presence or location of the gas pipeline. Employees were not provided with a farm map or marked plan showing the route of the pipeline.
These serious safety failings that led to a gas pipe being fractured put lives at risk.
Pet food firm sentenced for safety failings
A pet food manufacturer has been sentenced for exposing its employees to hazardous gases during equipment cleaning operations.
In February 2012 an employee was overcome by hydrogen sulphide fumes produced by decomposing feathers as he cleared a blockage from a hydrolyser.
During May 2015 another incident involved a release of chlorine gas from a scrubber during a routine cleaning operation when hydrochloric acid was added to a sump containing sodium hypochlorite.
The company had failed on both occasions to provide to employees adequate training and a safe system of work.
The employees were put at significant risk an HSE inspector stated that it was only by good fortune that there was no loss of life.
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