Scottish chemical firm fined £400,000

A Scottish chemical firm has been fined £400,000 following an incident in which ethylene was released from a cracked pipe.  The release of approximately seventeen tonnes of ethylene occurred in May 2017. This leak resulted in the formation of a flammable gas cloud of around 65,000m³. The HSE stated that “the line should have been designed for all potential operating conditions and should not have failed as a result of the rapid opening of a valve and sudden inrush of hot gas”