Companies and manager fined £440,000 after worker dies crushing aerosol canisters

Date:

13 December 2010

Release No:

612/W/10

Two companies and a manager have been fined a total of £440,000 after a worker suffered 90 per cent burns and died, when the aerosol canisters he was crushing caught fire.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Deeside Metal Company Ltd, of Saltney, Chester, and Jeyes UK Ltd, of Bromfield Industrial Estate, Mold, for failing to have proper controls in place to manage the extremely flammable materials that led to 37 year-old, Mark Wright's fatal burn injuries on 12 April 2005. A separate health and safety charge was also brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) against the manager of Deeside Metal Company Ltd, Mr Robert Roberts.

Caernarfon Crown Court heard how Mr Wright's employer, Deeside Metal Co, had received the canisters from Jeyes UK who had failed to clearly label and segregate them from less hazardous waste.

This meant that employees handling the canisters assumed they were empty when in fact they contained substances which should have been labelled "extremely flammable" and treated as such.

The court was told the manager of Deeside Metal Co, Robert Roberts, instructed Mr Wright to crush the canisters in a metal baler. When the baler was activated, a canister caught fire, engulfing Mr Wright in flames.

Neither company had carried out suitable risk assessments before allowing workers to handle potentially hazardous materials such as aerosols, and both had failed to train or monitor staff in their disposal.

HSE Head of Operations in Wales, Jane Lassey said:

"Both companies contributed to the death of Mr Wright by allowing this highly dangerous situation to arise. Jeyes UK had a clear responsibility to ensure the canisters were labelled correctly and separated fromnon-hazardous waste, and to have procedures to prevent such dangerous waste being inadvertently removed from their site. By failing to do this, they put workers in danger.

"Deeside Metal Co lacked proper procedures for handling hazardous materials and operating dangerous machinery. They assumed the canisters were empty, but this proved to be a fatal error of judgement."

"This is a tragic case and must serve as a warning to other companies handling potentially dangerous material about the consequences of not having safe working practices in place."

Deeside Metal Company Ltd pleaded guilty to charges under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The company was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.

Jeyes UK Ltd pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £330,000 with £50,000 costs.

Robert Roberts pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £10,000.

Advice on risk assessments and handling hazardous material can be found on the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

1. Section 2(1) of The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."
2. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
3. Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employee while at work to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work"
4. Section 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 state that: " Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of-
   1. the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and
   2. the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking."
5. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
6. All employers have a duty to assess risks in the workplace and put in place sensible health and safety measures to manage them. More information on risk assessment can be found on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/index.htm.

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News and PR Wales