The fourth largest chemical company in the world has been fined £400,000 for failing to undertake a risk assessment. The failings emerged after a worker fell into a sump of caustic hydroxide.
The 47-year-old was clearing the tank containing the caustic solution, which had reached the high-level design threshold the day before, at a site in Scotland.
After laying out various hoses in preparation of emptying the sump, the worker then entered the sump area. He stepped onto the corner of the grating with his right leg, but it gave way. The 47-year-old’s right leg fell into the sump and was submerged in the solution for three seconds before pulling himself out. He sustained permanent scarring.
Accident investigators found his employer, INEOS, had failed to undertake a risk assessment of the work involved. There was also no safe system of work in place. The grating was not secured and there were no barriers in place to prevent a fall into the sump.
Guidance on risk assessments states employers, or an appointed competent person, must identify hazards before work takes place, before assessing and controlling the risks involved. Findings should then be recorded, with employers then urged to review the control measures they have implemented to ensure they are working.
THE DANGEROUS PROPERTIES OF CAUSTIC ARE WIDELY KNOWN AND THIS INCIDENT COULD SO EASILY HAVE BEEN AVOIDED WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF STRAIGHTFORWARD CONTROL MEASURES IDENTIFIED THROUGH ASSESSMENT
INEOS Chemicals Grangemouth pleaded guilty to an offence under sections 2(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company was fined £400,000 earlier this month.
‘The duties on employers to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks and to provide a safe system of work are absolute within health and safety legislation and [should be] well understood,’ said HSE inspector Lindsey Stein after the hearing. ‘The dangerous properties of caustic are widely known and this incident could so easily have been avoided with the implementation of straightforward control measures identified through assessment.’
Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), added: ‘Ineos Chemicals Grangemouth’s failure to assess the risks posed resulted in the severe injury and permanent disfigurement of one of [its] workers.
‘This prosecution should remind duty holders that a failure to manage and implement effective measures can have serious consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure.
