Food firm to pay £17k after safety manager’s injury
The manager, Harvey Hopwood, suffered 10% burns to his shoulder, upper arms, neck and back during the accident at PAS.
Hopwood was overseeing the jet washing of a large oil storage tank at the firm’s Grantham site when the accident happened on November 27 last year.
As he climbed between guard rails on a gantry at the top of the tank to check progressing, Hopwood dislodged a pipe connected to a pressure gauge. The pipe then sprayed oil over 160⁰C over his upper body, Grantham Magistrates’ Court was told.
The 62-year-old manager was off work for over a month before later leaving the firm.
‘Prepared the assessment later’
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that the company had failed to carry out a risk assessment for the cleaning operation. It had decided to do the work first and prepare the assessment later.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Judith McNulty-Green, said the point of a risk assessment was to ensure the risks associated with a particular task were considered in order to keep workers safe.
“To carry out the work first and then write the assessment afterwards is foolhardy to say the least,” said McNulty-Green.
“Mr Hopwood was extremely fortunate not to have been more seriously injured. If it hadn’t been for the incredibly quick actions of colleagues who dragged him to an emergency shower, this incident may have had a very different outcome.”
PAS was fined £16,500 and ordered to pay £571 in costs. It pleaded guilty to a breach of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Health and safety advice is available from the HSE.
Meanwhile, e-learning health and safety training courses are available from FoodManufacture.co.uk’s publisher William Reed Business Media. Details of all e-learning courses are available here.
