Two workers were exposed to the risk of an explosion while carrying out unsafe welding on a fishing boat’s diesel tank.
The
men, one of whom was only 17, were working for boat-repair company C
& L Marine Ltd. They were asked to carry out cleaning and welding
work to repair a fuel leak on the Margaret of Ladram, which was moored
in Sutton Harbour, Plymouth.
The fuel tank was one deck down and
accessed from a small manhole below the vessel’s net store. The workers
were required to use buckets to empty the tank of more than 600 litres
of residual seawater and diesel, and had been provided with rags to
clean the inside in preparation for the welding.
Neither man was
provided training for the job, nor were they supplied with any
respiratory protection. They took turns to enter the tank to clean it,
in order to have respite from the fumes. One of them started to find it
difficult to breathe when he was inside the tank, and said he felt dizzy
and faint.
The next day, one of the men used a grinder, causing
sparks to fall on his workmate, who was holding a lamp to illuminate
the work. Significant amounts of fumes were created and they evacuated
the boat and contacted staff at the harbour for advice.
The
harbourmaster visited the boat and halted further work after the company
failed to provide documentation and permits to show the tank was safe
in which to work. He then notified the HSE about the unsafe work.
The
HSE visited the harbour and found that no gas monitor was used to
measure available oxygen in the tank and no gas-free certificate was
obtained before beginning the work. An electric fan was being used to
blow the fumes out of the tank, and a second fan was also put outside in
the net store. Neither fan had an extraction hose, which meant they
just blew the fumes about.
Both men were unsupervised and
unfamiliar with the tank work they were undertaking. C & L Marine
also failed to considered the need to provide rescue equipment, such as
harnesses and lifelines, or other appropriate emergency arrangements.
The
firm was issued a Prohibition Notice, which ordered the repairs to stop
until a safe system of working in a confined space was created.
HSE
inspector David Cory said: “C & L Marine’s lack of preparation for
this work showed very significant failings, which could have led to
tragedy – they should have been well aware of the risks cleaning and
then welding in the diesel fuel tank would have posed.The tank
should have been thoroughly steam-cleaned or jet-washed, instead of
being bucketed out and mopped with rags. There was no test for the
presence of noxious or flammable gases, or whether there was sufficient
oxygen in the tank before the men began work. If the diesel fuel
residues had been sufficiently heated they would have created fumes
which could have led to an explosion, or fire. Ventilation was either
absent, or woefully inadequate.”
C & L Marine appeared at
Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on 18 March and pleaded guilty to breaching
reg.3(1) of the MHSWR 1999, and reg.3(1)9(a), reg.4(2) and reg.5(1) of
the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997. It was fined a total of £20,000
and ordered to pay £23,000 in costs.
After the hearing, inspector
Cory added: “All employers involved in confined-space working must
consider their activities properly, train and equip staff sufficiently,
and reduce and control risks as much as possible. All confined-space
work is high risk and, if not properly controlled, can go badly wrong,
very quickly.”
Source: SHP 19-3-13
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