A rubber manufacturer has been fined £10,000 after a Manchester worker narrowly escaped being killed in a factory explosion.
Dave Lomas, 56 from Ancoats, was returning from a coffee break when he saw a five-foot iron girder fly through the factory, smashing his workstation into pieces. The father of four, and grandfather of ten, would normally have been at his desk at the time of the explosion but had left it earlier than usual to make a drink.
Worker Dave Lomas was injured in the explosion
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has now prosecuted The Moseley Rubber Company Ltd after a machine exploded at the company's premises on Hoyle Street in Manchester on 19 February 2008.
Trafford Magistrates' Court heard that an autoclave - a high-pressure machine used to manufacture rubber rollers - had exploded after not being properly maintained. The force of the blast shot an iron girder across the factory and lifted the cement-sheet roof off the building which then fell back into place, bending all the internal roof supports.
Dave, who worked as a machine operator in the factory, suffered injuries to his chest and arm in the explosion. The factory closed down following the incident and Dave has been unable to return to work. He said:
"Whenever I think about it, it just makes me realise how close I was to not coming home that night and never seeing my family again. It's given me a few sleepless nights.
"It just happened that, on that day, I'd got to work ten minutes earlier than normal so had set up my machine and gone to make a coffee before the explosion. I was walking back to my workstation when the force of the explosion blew me back about 15 feet.
Dave Lomas's workbench after the explosion
"If I'd got to work at my usual time then I'd have been killed without a doubt. The girder would have cut me in half."
The Moseley Rubber Company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 9(1)(a) and 12 of the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 by failing to arrange a routine inspection of the machine and by failing to maintain it.
The company was ordered to pay a maximum fine of £10,000 for the two offences at Trafford Magistrates' Court on 31 March 2010, and ordered to pay an additional £8,153 towards the cost of the prosecution.
HSE also issued a total of 12 Prohibition Notices when HSE Inspector Matt Greenly visited the factory as part of the investigation, banning the use of other machines which had also not been inspected. He said:
"Incredibly, Dave only suffered minor injuries in the explosion but there could easily have been several deaths. It's shocking that the Moseley Rubber Company appears to have had such little concern for the safety of its workers, allowing them to work with potentially dangerous machinery for several years.
The autoclave machine that caused the explosion
"The company failed to service the machine for more than a decade, after cancelling its annual shutdown for routine maintenance. It also ignored its legal duty to make sure a routine inspection was carried out by a qualified inspector.
"This case demonstrates how important it is for manufacturing companies to take their health and safety responsibilities seriously. It simply isn't acceptable to cut back on safety to try and make short-term gains."
There were 32 deaths and 22,407 serious injuries in the manufacturing sector last year. More information on improving safety standards is available at www.hse.gov.uk/manufacturing.
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office.
Issued on behalf of HSE by COI News and PR North West
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office who act as HSE's Press Office throughout Great Britain.
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