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May/June 2023 issue

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Toner recycler’s ‘lax’ approach to fire safety left worker in induced coma

Open-access content Thursday 1st March 2018
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Toner recycler's 'lax' approach to fire safety left worker in induced coma

Toner cartridge recycling company Ereco EMEA has been fined £30,000 over the accident, which happened on 3 October 2011.

Portsmouth Crown Court was told that dust residue inside a toner cartridge ignited while it was being pulverised at the Lingford facility. Toner dust comprises several combustible materials, including carbon and iron.

Five people sustained serious injuries, including a 30-year-old employee who was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for 15 weeks.

A joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Surrey Fire and Rescue Services found that Ereco had failed to ensure there was a safe system in work in place to reduce the risk of dangerous substances.

It had not carried out suitable fire risk assessments and had failed to follow guidelines in the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations, they said.

The investigation also found that Paramount Waste Extraction, the company that designed the machine used to process the cartridges, had failed to consider the fact its machines would need to handle waste cartridges with more than residual powder left inside.

The HSE said the company relied on generic data to assess the possibility of an explosive atmosphere.

Denise Turner-Stewart, Surrey County Council's cabinet member for communities, said: "Despite warnings, Ereco failed to deal with the risk of fire at its plant leading to a catastrophic explosion of flammable toner power."

Ereco pleaded guilty to breaching the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and s 2(1) of Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to take general fire precautions. It was fined £15,000 for each offence and ordered to pay costs of £30,000.

Paramount Waste Extraction pleaded guilty to breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, was fined £16,000 plus £16,000 costs.

After the hearing HSE inspector Michelle Canning said: "All the employees involved in this incident are extremely lucky this explosion didn't prove fatal.

"Ereco failed to take the required precautions before starting a process of work with dangerous substances and this failure resulted in this serious, life threatening explosion."

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Image credit: ©Steve Fareham (cc-by-sa/2.0)

 Butane leak lands refinery £400k COMAH fine

Thursday 1st March 2018
Grimsby Magistrates’ Court was told that the leak happened during a maintenance shutdown that takes place every four years.  One of the planned tasks during the shutdown of processing units, pipework, vents and drains was the connection of a new 1 km-long butane line between two processing units.The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the contractor who connected the pipework had not checked the whole line to ensure it had been properly installed and all the valves were closed.
Open-access content
© iStock/illarionovdv

 Oz ambulance service fined over paramedic’s fatal overdose

Monday 12th March 2018
Ambulance Victoria pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safe working environment and failing to ensure volunteer officers were not exposed to risks under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. The organisation was fined A$200,000 (£113,500) on each charge at Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court on 8 March.
Open-access content

 *UPDATE* Tata Steel fined £1.4m after cranes crush worker

Thursday 15th February 2018
Tata Steel employee Thomas Standerline, 26, was carrying out maintenance work on a semi-goliath gantry crane in the slab yard at the company’s large steel plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, when the accident happened in April 2010. He was standing in the semi-goliath’s inspection cage when another overhead crane passed directly above him. He was caught between the two and died instantly.Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Kirsty Storer said that at the time contractor Harsco Metals was responsible for running the slab yard and operating the cranes.
Open-access content

 Failings at UK labs exposed scientists to potentially lethal diseases

Wednesday 14th February 2018
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated more than 40 failings at specialist labs operated by hospitals, private companies and Public Health England (PHE) over the past two years, according to The Guardian. In one instance, the HSE served an improvement notice on PHE after one of its scientists fell ill with shigella, a bacterial disease that is closely related to E. coli.
Open-access content
Image credit: © European Chemicals Agency, 2013

 Restricted chemicals prevalent in EU goods

Wednesday 21st March 2018
ECHA’s Enforcement Forum coordinated the REACH-En-Force-4 (REF-4) project to test consumer products for 22 restricted chemicals listed in REACH Annex XVII. These include asbestos, benzene, lead, phthalates and toluene.  Throughout 2016 inspectors in 27 EU and EEA countries checked 5,625 products such as plastics, glues, spray paints, brazing fillers, textiles, jewellery and toys for restricted substances. They found that 82% of products complied with the REACH restrictions but 18% did not.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©Tim Scrivener/REX/Shutterstock

 Serial safety offender Tata Steel fined £1.4m

Monday 5th February 2018
Hull Crown Court was told that Tata Steel employee Thomas Standerline, 26, was standing inside a cage while inspecting a crane in April 2010. An overhead crane travelled over the edge of his cage and trapped him, leading to instant death.  The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that, even after the occurrence of two incidents prior to Standerline’s death, Tata Steel had failed to enforce its own safety procedures. It also found that the overhead crane in question should not have been in operation.
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