Employee trapped inside equipment because of a lack of isolation

Manufacturer of carbon-based products, SGL Carbon Fibres Limited (SGL), was fined £12,000 following an incident where an employee sustained soft tissue injuries to his right hip and a fracture to his lower right leg.

The circumstances were:

• The accident occurred during maintenance on a Regenerative Thermal Oxidiser (RTO).
• There was a general permit to work.
• However, no risk assessment was undertaken to identify any specific risks beyond the general ones mentioned on the Permit to Work documentation.
• Also, pre-existing relevant procedures were not implemented.
• As a result, the task was not clearly supervised, informed by a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and consequent work instructions, with appropriate supervision and monitoring to ensure the identified safe system of work was implemented.
• On 25 April 2016, and employee was inside the RTO when he become trapped between a moving poppet valve and the valve seat.