Company and director prosecuted for mercury exposure

Date:

5 February 2010

Release No:

YH/041/09

A recycling company and its director have been fined a total of £145,000 for exposing workers to toxic mercury fumes at a site in Huddersfield.

Twenty employees had levels of mercury in their system above UK guidance levels, and five of them showed extremely high levels following the exposure between October 2007 and August 2008.

Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd, of 400 Denmark Street, Glasgow, and formerly known as Matrix Direct Recycle Ltd, recycles electrical equipment, including fluorescent light tubes containing mercury and TV sets and monitors containing lead.

The court heard that ventilation problems at a plant on School Lane, Kirkheaton, meant employees were being exposed to potentially harmful emissions from both substances.

EWR was fined £140,000 and ordered to pay £35,127 costs at Bradford Crown Court after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, three separate breaches of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, and one breach of the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002.

Company director Craig Thompson, aged 38, of Reinwood, Huddersfield, was also fined £5,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.

Several workers had reported ill health as a result of the exposure, including a pregnant worker who was concerned that her unborn baby was at risk.

HSE issued five Improvement Notices and one Prohibition Notice to the company in relation to the incident.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Jeanne Morton said:

"This is a shocking case involving a large number of employees, many of them young and vulnerable, who were suddenly faced with the worrying possibility of damage to their long-term health.

"The risks associated with handling toxic substances like mercury have been known for generations, so it is all the more unacceptable that something like this has happened.

"The company failed to see the risks created by their recycling work and failed to develop effective plans for safe working. They also did nothing to check their workers' health after exposure.

"Workers have a right to expect a reasonable level of protection in the workplace, and employers have a legal duty to provide it."

Max Folkett, site inspector for the Environment Agency, added: "We have worked closely with HSE and other organisations during the investigation which led to this prosecution.

"Electrical Waste Recycling Group Limited requires an environmental permit from us for the recovery and processing of hazardous waste and we routinely inspect the site to check the company is complying with the permit.

"We suspended the permit following this incident in August 2008, removing the risk of mercury escaping from the site, because of our concerns the operation posed a serious risk of pollution from mercury. Our soil monitoring around the site to check for long-term contamination showed metal levels not unusual for urban areas."

Notes to editors

1. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 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, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees." There were two counts of this charge, one against Matrix Direct Recycle Ltd and one against Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd.
2. Regulation 6(1)(a) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 states: "An employer shall not carry out any work which is liable to expose any employees to any substance hazardous to health unless he has made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that work to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations." There were two counts of this charge, one against Matrix Direct Recycle Ltd and one against Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd.
3. Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 states: "...Every employer shall ensure that the exposure of his employees to substances hazardous to health is either prevented or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled." There were four counts of this charge, one against Matrix Direct Recycle Ltd, one against Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd, and two against Craig Thompson for his tenure of both companies.
4. Regulation 11(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 states: "...Where it is appropriate for the protection of the health of his employees who are, or are liable to be, exposed to a substance hazardous to health, the employer shall ensure that such employees are under suitable health surveillance. There were two counts of this charge, one against Matrix Direct Recycle Ltd and one against Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd.
5. Regulation 5(1) of the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 states; "An employer shall not carry out work which is liable to expose any employees to lead unless he has (a) made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that work to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of those regulations; and (b) implemented the steps refereed to in sub-paragraph (a)." There were two counts of this charge, one against Matrix Direct Recycle Ltd and one against Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd.
6. More information on health and safety can be found online www.hse.gov.uk

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