Dailycsr.com – 25 September 2015 – A sudden hydrogen explosion sent a vessel lid flying through a chemical firm’s roof which finally landed “onto a car park”. This incident has brought a heavy fine of “£80,000” upon the firm. The said firm is none other than the CatAlloy Ltd’s plant on the “Moss Bank Road” wherein the blast took place on the 25th November 2011. The case was prosecuted by the Health And Safety Executive.
The CatAlloy Ltd was pleaded guilty for breaching two sections of the law under the “Health And Safety At Work etc Act 1974” which is applicable for ensuring “safety of workers”. Consequently, the company has to pay a fine of “£80,000”. In fact, the company is due for another additional payment of “£80,000” as prosecution costs.
A spokesperson of HSE reported that “Warrington Crown Court” was informed that there was a modification of one of CatAlloy Ltd’s reactors present in the Moss Bank Road premise. Furthermore, the explosion had occurred just the following day whereby the changes to the reactors were conducted.
Moreover, the person also added that:
“....the force of the explosion blew the lid and other equipment through the factory roof’s corrugated panels and into a neighbouring car park, while a worker suffered cuts to his hand and back”.
The firm is a producer of “metal catalysts” that are useful to “pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries”. However, an investigation carried out at the firm site discovered that the firm “had fitted a new seal on the reactor” so as to stop air from coming inside it. Nevertheless, HSE claims that CatAlloy failed in considering the added risks for the increased pressure that would build up inside the “equipment during the production process”.
The inspector Mhairi Duffy from the HSE, after the hearing stated that:
“CatAlloy deals with potentially dangerous substances every day and so it’s vital nothing is left to chance when it comes to the safety of its workers.
“The company should have carefully considered the risks of sealing the reactor but instead it continued with the production process and there was a major hydrogen explosion as a result.
“Luckily, only one worker suffered minor injuries in the blast but the consequences could easily have been fatal.”
References:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
The CatAlloy Ltd was pleaded guilty for breaching two sections of the law under the “Health And Safety At Work etc Act 1974” which is applicable for ensuring “safety of workers”. Consequently, the company has to pay a fine of “£80,000”. In fact, the company is due for another additional payment of “£80,000” as prosecution costs.
A spokesperson of HSE reported that “Warrington Crown Court” was informed that there was a modification of one of CatAlloy Ltd’s reactors present in the Moss Bank Road premise. Furthermore, the explosion had occurred just the following day whereby the changes to the reactors were conducted.
Moreover, the person also added that:
“....the force of the explosion blew the lid and other equipment through the factory roof’s corrugated panels and into a neighbouring car park, while a worker suffered cuts to his hand and back”.
The firm is a producer of “metal catalysts” that are useful to “pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries”. However, an investigation carried out at the firm site discovered that the firm “had fitted a new seal on the reactor” so as to stop air from coming inside it. Nevertheless, HSE claims that CatAlloy failed in considering the added risks for the increased pressure that would build up inside the “equipment during the production process”.
The inspector Mhairi Duffy from the HSE, after the hearing stated that:
“CatAlloy deals with potentially dangerous substances every day and so it’s vital nothing is left to chance when it comes to the safety of its workers.
“The company should have carefully considered the risks of sealing the reactor but instead it continued with the production process and there was a major hydrogen explosion as a result.
“Luckily, only one worker suffered minor injuries in the blast but the consequences could easily have been fatal.”
References:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk