Hull Chemical Company Fined Almost £500,000 After Worker Suffered Burns

Robert McBride Ltd of Hull was sentenced on 7 April for safety breaches after a 31-year-old worker suffered 13% superficial burns to his right arm and hand following the ignition of flammable vapors at the company’s site.

Beverley Magistrates’ Court heard that on 21 August 2017, a batch of hairspray was being mixed in a 10,000-liter stainless steel mixing vessel. Flammable vapors were created within the mixing vessel as a result of heating.

flammable vapors

Ethanol was pumped directly into the vessel via pipework from an external storage tank. Other materials – liquids, and powders – were added via a manway lid on the top of the vessel.

The mixing process then required the addition of heat by means of an integral steam coil within the vessel. As the worker was adding powders into the vessel using a metal scoop, flammable vapors leaving the vessel through the lid ignited, briefly engulfing his upper torso.

investigation

The source of ignition is likely to have been a spark from the metal scoop, or static electricity build-up

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was an extraction system at the lip of the manway lid to remove vapors from this area, but it was not adequate to prevent a build-up of a flammable atmosphere.

The source of ignition is likely to have been a spark from the metal scoop, or static electricity build-up on the worker’s clothing.

Fine charged

Robert McBride Ltd of Hornscroft Park, Kinswood, Hull pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(1) of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) 2002. The company was fined £480,000 and ordered to pay costs of £13,441.80.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector - David Stewart said, “Duty holders should carry out a DSEAR risk assessment in areas where there is a potential for the creation of explosive or flammable atmospheres in order to identify adequate control measures.”