Fire caused during decanting of highly flammable liquid

Chemical company LMA Services Ltd was fined £16,377 (inc. costs) for safety breaches after a fire which quickly took hold of buildings and storage areas at the site.

The circumstances were:

• On 30 June 2016, a highly flammable liquid, was being decanted from a bulk storage container into 4-litre metal cans. 
• The process involved placing a bulk container of heptane onto racking at a height of about 1.5m.
• A table was then positioned beneath the bulk container onto which a small electrical weighing scale was positioned. 
• Metal cans were placed onto the scale and an employee filled the cans by weight by manually operating a tap on the bulk container in the warehouse building.
• A flammable vapour created during the process came into contact with an ignition source causing the vapour to ignite. 
• The operator dropped the can he was filling, exited the warehouse quickly and raised the alarm. He did not suffer any serious injury. 
• The fire spread quickly and destroyed the warehouse, the adjacent warehouse and an external storage area between the two.
• The HSE’s investigation found that the most likely source of ignition was a spark from the electrical weighing scales.

The HSE inspector commented: 

“The risks associated with the decanting operation were not fully understood by the company. There were potential ignition sources present within the area where a flammable vapour was likely to occur.  This case highlights the importance of assessing risks associated with flammable atmospheres. Employers should ensure that adequate measures are taken to reduce the formation of flammable atmospheres so far as is reasonably practicable, and to ensure that only suitable electrical equipment is used in areas where a flammable atmosphere may be present.”

Fedex fined £543,000 after employee was struck by a forklift truck

Fedex UK Ltd was fined £543,033 (inc.costs) after an employee was seriously injured when he was struck by a forklift truck.
The circumstances were:

• Whilst a risk assessment had been carried out, it failed to identify the importance of achieving robust segregation in an area where frequent forklift truck movements took place.
• There was inadequate segregation of forklift trucks and pedestrians within the workplace at Burntwood Business Park.
• On 2 November 2017, an employee was walking across the depot.
• He was struck by a reversing forklift truck and trapped on the ground by the forklift truck. 
• He had to be freed by colleagues using a pallet truck. 
• He suffered serious fractures to his arm and soft tissue injuries to his legs. 
• He was off work for several months.

The HSE inspector said: 
“Those in control of work have a responsibility to provide safe methods of working and a safe working environment. Collisions between vehicles and pedestrians can be avoided if the workplace layout is properly planned, effectively segregated and suitable systems of work are introduced. If physical barriers and a suitable system of work had been in place the injuries sustained by this employee could have been prevented.”

Unguarded rollers leads to degloving injury and £35,840 fine

Plastipack Limited, a manufacturer of swimming pool covers was fined £35,842 (inc.costs) after a worker suffered a degloving injury when his hand got caught between two power driven rollers of an extruder machine.

The circumstances were:

• There was no guarding of the in-running nip point between the rollers of the machine.
• On 21 February 2018, an employee was performing a manual intervention on the machine.
• His hand got caught between two power driven rollers.

The HSE inspector said
‘’ This injury was easily preventable, and the risk should have been identified. Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.’’

Haulage company fined £8,000 after fall from trailer

W D Cormack & Sons, a partnership operating a haulage business, was fined £8,000 by Perth Sheriff Court after a driver fell from a trailer to the ground.

The circumstances were:

• On 9 February 2016, an employee was securing a load of grain bags on a curtain-sided trailer.
• W D Cormack & Sons had failed to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment
• They had also failed to provide and maintain a safe system of work.
• The employee fell 2.88 metres from the trailer to the ground. 
• He sustained severe injuries as a result of the fall.

The HSE inspector said:
“This incident could have been avoided by implementing effective measures to control work at height on trailers. Load securing systems, which allow drivers to secure loads from the ground, can be easily fitted to curtain-siders. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standard.”

Thames Water Utilities Limited fined £316,000 for confined space failures and failure to co-ordinate different activities

Water and wastewater company Thames Water Utilities Limited (TWUL) was  fined £316,000 (inc.costs) following an incident in which three workers were carried along a sewer following the collapse of a 150-year-old sewer gate.

The circumstances were:

• On 29 August 2017, three workers were carrying out preparatory work in a sewer for the Thames Tideway Tunnel at East Greenwich.
• TWUL's permission and authorisation system was fragmented. 
• TWUL had no effective means of collating, comparing and adapting to the impact of multiple work activities.
• TWUL had planned individual work activities but failed to properly coordinate these.
• Due to an unrelated planned power outage, sewage pumps vital to the control of sewage levels for the work being undertaken at East Greenwich were not available.
• This resulted in the failure of a 150-year-old cast iron penstock, which engulfed the workers and carried them along the sewer. 
• The three workers suffered minor physical injuries but have been mentally affected. 
• One worker has been treated for the long-term traumatic stress because of the incident which has prevented him from continuing work in his specialised career.

The HSE inspector said:
“This serious incident endangered the lives of three workers and caused lasting adverse mental health effects; the workers narrowly avoided death by drowning in sewage. It should serve as a warning and a reminder to all those that work in confined spaces that work in these challenging environments must be properly planned, coordinated and managed.”

Overridden interlock allowed machine to restart, causing 3 fractures to the pelvis of a machine setter

Sink manufacturing company Carron Phoenix Limited was fined £16,000 after a tool setter was struck by a moving part of a machine.

The circumstances were:

• The tool changer on a machine tool had become jammed.
• There was no safe system of work to address this.
• The setter overrode the guard interlock by using a spare interlock switch tongue.
• This meant that there was nothing to prevent the machine from restarting.
• He entered the guarded area of the machine tool.
• As soon as the jam was removed, the machine immediately restarted.
• It struck the tool setter on the body, pinning him against the machine’s outer wall. 
• He sustained three fractures to his pelvis.

The HSE served a Prohibition Notice preventing any of the interlocks being overridden.

They also served an Improvement Notice requiring Carron Phoenix Ltd to develop and implement a safe system of work and to review all risk assessments. 

The HSE inspector said:
“This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standard.”

Packaging Waste

You know the Packaging Waste (Producer Responsibility) Regulations aren't working when a memory stick comes in a container like this.  It may be that Amazon equipment can't handle anything smaller.
On the other hand, it is recyclable. If it was in a small plastic bubble-protected envelope, then it would have less waste but not be recyclable.
Maybe there's scope for the Packaging Waste (Producer Responsibility) Regulations to be changed to have a weighting that encourages the use of recyclable materials and penalises plastic.

Sirap UK Ltd fined £150,000 after 1 tonne bag fell and hit forklift truck driver.

Sirap UK Ltd, a plastic packaging manufacturer, was fined £151,061 after an accident  resulted in an employee suffering multiple fractures to their pelvis and legs.

The circumstances were:

• There was no safe working practice for stacking Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs), commonly called bulk bags, or repairing them.
• FIBCs had been stacked in an unsafe manner to a height of approximately 2.2 metres.
• An employee was operating a forklift truck next to these FIBCs.
• He reversed the forklift truck and it caught one of the lower FIBCs causing it to tear and spill its contents. 
• He descended from the truck and attempted to repair the tear.
• However, the top FIBC, weighing about 1 tonne, fell and struck the employee.

The HSE inspector said:
“There are many companies using this type of container and they should note that the use of FIBCs requires safe stacking formations and safe systems for reuse and repair. Had the company adopted the correct standards this worker would not have been injured”.

Nichol McKay Limited fined after load fell and struck supervisor on the head

Nichol McKay Limited, a manufacturer of engineering products, was fined £12,000 after an employee was struck on the head by a falling load.

The circumstances were:

• An automatic shot blaster was being loaded.
• The Profile Shed Supervisor helped a colleague load components into a suspended basket.
• The components weighed 60 kg each.
• There was no safety catch on the hooks used to hold the basket to prevent it becoming detached.
• A loaded basket and its contents became detached and fell, striking the supervisor on the head and rendering him unconscious.
• The HSE served a Notice of Contravention and an Improvement Notice which required a review of the company’s management of lifting operations. 
• The notice was complied with when the company confirmed a new lifting operations procedure and safe system of work.

The HSE inspector  said:
“This incident could easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standard.”