Delphi Diesel Systems fined £1m after explosion injures two workers

Delphi Diesel Systems fined £1m after explosion injures two workers.

The circumstances were:

• Two employees at Delphi Diesel Systems were cleaning a component washer’s distillation tank on 11 July 2017.
• They were using a flammable chemical.
• There was no risk assessment or safe system of work for using flammable chemicals to clean the distillation tank.
• The vapour ignited, triggering an explosion
• Both workers sustained severe injuries; one employee’s burns were so serious that he could not return to work for more than two months.

The HSE inspector Paul Thompson said:
“Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe systems of work, and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in those systems, as well as the substances they use.

If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the injuries suffered by the employees could have been prevented.”