Leadec Limited fined £2M after employee was killed during high pressure water jetting operation

Specialist industrial services company Leadec Limited was  fined £2,030,000 (inc.costs) after a worker suffered a fatal injury whilst cleaning waste-water pipes.

The circumstances were:

• Leadec used high-pressure water jetting equipment to clear paint residue from pipes in the paint shop at a car manufacturing site.
• Whilst Leadec  recognised the risks of operating high-pressure water jetting equipment, they had failed to put in place appropriate measures to mitigate the risks.
• They had not implemented or enforced the use of various control measures such as a pressure regulator or an anti-ejection device.
• Training and supervision were inadequate.
• On 18 June 2017, an employee was using this process. 
• The above control measures were not in place.
• The employee was struck by the end of flexi-lance, causing a fatal injury.

The HSE inspector said:
“Companies must understand that high risk activities require a thorough risk assessment process and robust management systems to protect their employees from risk of serious or fatal injuries. It is not good enough for companies to assume they are doing all they can to control the risk just because there have been no previous incidents. Joseph McDonald’s death could have been prevented had Leadec Limited had the necessary control measures and management systems in place to protect its employees.”