A major scotch whisky
manufacturer has been fined after two workers had to flee a warehouse fire.
Glasgow Sheriff Court was told at
an earlier hearing that two workers were filling casks in a warehouse in The
Edrington Group Limited's premises on Great Western Road when the incident
happened on 29 June 2011.
The men were on a metal walkway
at the top levels of the warehouse using flexible hoses to fill the 450-litre
casks with whisky which was being pumped from steel vats. After filling four of
them, one worker felt the hose he was using relax then heard a whoosh of liquid
towards the forklift truck. He turned to see a jet of whisky shooting up
towards a ceiling light fitting above the truck. The whisky hit the light
fitting and a flame engulfed the cage of the forklift truck.
Around the same time his
colleague heard a 'pop' from the cage and then saw a flame spread across the
roof from the light fitting both towards and away from them. Both workers ran
towards the stairs at the back of the warehouse, activating the fire alarm as
they left, prompting the evacuation of the whole site within several minutes.
The court heard that thousands of
litres of the burning spirit poured down the racked casks and onto the forklift
truck until the supplying pump was turned off about 15 minutes later. Another
worker who witnessed the fire through a door into the warehouse described the
forklift truck as looking like 'a Christmas pudding once brandy is set alight'.
It was later discovered that 70
of the 110 sprinkler heads in the warehouse had been activated.
An investigation into the
incident by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the central aisle
lights in the warehouse should not have been used in a flammable atmosphere
and, had they been checked, they would have been identified as an ignition
source risk.
HSE's investigation also revealed
that the filling equipment was not suitable for use to transfer a hazardous
substance like alcohol at pressure.
The Edrington Group Limited,
Great Western Road, Glasgow, was today (27 February) fined £40,000 after
pleading guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act
1974.
After sentencing, HSE Inspector
David Stephen said: "This was a major incident that could have had
disastrous consequences. The two workers had to run for their lives and were
extremely lucky not to have been killed or seriously injured. More than 17,500
litres of whisky were lost during the incident. This volume of flammable liquid
could have served as fuel for a significant fire, which would have caused major
disruption and damage to the environment. Had the company taken the simple
steps of checking the light fittings were suitable for use in a flammable
atmosphere and that the equipment used to transfer the alcohol was fit for
purpose this incident could have been prevented”
Since the incident, the filling of whisky
casks in this way at the premises has been made redundant with the introduction
of a new tank facility in October 2011.
Source:
HSE 27 February 2013
