A vehicle component manufacturer has been fined £1,000,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,374 after two employees suffered burns whilst cleaning a distillation tank. The injured people were burnt when the vapour of a flammable chemical, which was being used to clean the distillation tank part of a component washer, ignited and caused an explosion. Both suffered significant burn injuries, with one so badly hurt that they could not return to work for over two months.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into the incident found that no risk assessment had been undertaken for the procedure of cleaning the distillation tank and that no safe system of work had been put in place. The investigation also found that no planning had been undertaken for the use of the flammable chemical during the cleaning activity.

A West Midlands manufacturer of calcium carbonate products has been fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £23,218 after a worker suffered fatal injuries when struck by a forklift truck whilst walking in the designated pedestrian area of the site’s roadway. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the measures in place to separate and segregate pedestrians from vehicles were inadequate, with the designated pedestrian walkway running, unprotected, down the centre of the roadway used by vehicle

A Merseyside wood product manufacturer has been fined £466,666 and ordered to pay costs of £7,475 after a worker was dragged, in June 2016, into a rotating drive shaft. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to adequately guard the production line, allowing access to dangerous parts of machinery, including conveyors and drive shafts during both operation and cleaning.

During a return visit by HSE, in April 2018, it was discovered that the company had changed the layout of the production line, leaving accessible dangerous parts, including an identical shaft to the one which the victim was injured on. A Prohibition Notice and an Improvement Notice were served to address the risks.

The subsequent investigation showed that mill operatives were regularly accessing the strapping section while the machinery was still running, and the Production Director was aware of this.