Chemical firm sentenced after worker suffers toxic burns

Date:

7 February 2011

Release No:

HSE/NW/80Abacus

A chemical company has been sentenced after a worker suffered toxic burns to his arms and chest at an Ellesmere Port factory.

The employee at Abacus Chemical Ltd was mixing two chemicals together on 7 May 2009 when they exploded, causing him to be drenched in a hot, toxic chemical solution.

The company was prosecuted in a joint case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Environment Agency following the incident at its plant on Oil Sites Road in Ellesmere Port.

Chester Magistrates' Court, sitting in Knutsford, heard that the company had mixed 22 kilograms of sodium cyanide pellets with hydrogen peroxide to make them less toxic. By taking this action, Abacus avoided having to pay a licensed hazardous waste company to dispose of the pellets at a cost of less than £300.

Abacus Chemical Ltd, of Greenfield Business Centre, Greenfield, North Wales, pleaded guilty to three health, safety and environmental offences on 3 February 2011. The company, which no longer has an operating site, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £14,000 in prosecution costs.

The court was told that the company did not have a permit to mix the chemicals, failed to carry out an assessment of the risks, and did not provide protective clothing or adequate equipment.

The 58-year-old worker from Barrow-in-Furness required skin grafts to his arms and chest, and has suffered permanent scarring. He has not returned to work since the incident.

The HSE investigation found that the chemicals reacted in an exothermic explosion, most likely caused by nearly five times the amount of hydrogen peroxide than was needed being mixed with the sodium cyanide pellets.

Dr Jo-Anne Michael, the investigating inspector at HSE, said:

"A man has suffered permanent scarring and others have been put at risk of breathing in toxic fumes, because Abacus failed to take the appropriate measures for handling chemicals.

"The company should have conducted a risk assessment in advance, used protective clothing and suitable equipment, and monitored the reaction process to prevent an explosion.

"The chemical industry has the potential to be extremely hazardous and so it's therefore vital that the proper health and safety measures are in place."

The force of the chemical explosion produced a thick white cloud but firefighters were not warned that they might be exposed to toxic fumes when they attended the site.

Tracey Rimmer, Team Leader for the Environment Agency, said:

"This prosecution was brought about as Abacus Chemicals Ltd failed to have an Environmental Permit in place for the actions that they were undertaking.

"The Environment Agency works to protect and improve the environment. Sites that operate without a valid permit in place have the potential to cause serious harm to the environment."

Abacus Chemical Ltd's director, Michael St. Amour, was also cautioned for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, and the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005.

Health and safety information on working with chemicals is available at www.hse.gov.uk/chemicals.

Notes to editors

1. 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
2. Abacus Chemical Ltd was charged with breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Regulation 12 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, and Regulations 19(1) and 65(a) of the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005.
3. Section 2(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."
4. Regulation 12 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 states: "No person may operate a regulated facility except under and to the extent authorised by an environmental permit."
5. Regulation 19(1) of the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 states: "No establishment or undertaking which carries out the disposal or recovery of hazardous waste, or which produces, collects or transports hazardous waste, shall mix any hazardous waste [without a permit]."
6. Regulation 65(a) of the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 states:
7. The Abacus Chemical Ltd site in Ellesmere Port was graded as a lower tier plant under the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations. The regulations ensure that businesses take all necessary measures to prevent major accidents involving dangerous substances, and limit the consequences to people and the environment of any major accidents which do occur.

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