B&W Waste Management Services a waste treatment and disposal company that failed to control the risks from gas cylinders at its site in Bedford has been fined £100,000 after an explosion left two workers with serious injuries.
One employee sustained third-degree burns and was put in a medically-induced coma for ten days on a life support machine after the accident on 12 July 2016. He has undergone several operations and relies on medication for nerve pain, said the HSE. His colleague was also burned.
Luton Magistrates’ Court was told that the two workers were using a gas-operated forklift truck to feed pressurised aerosol canisters into a plastic shredder when a spark from the forklift ignited a cloud of gas from the canisters.
B&W Waste Management pleaded guilty to breaching reg 6(1) of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR). As well as the £100,000 fine it was fined and ordered to pay £11,603 costs.
The HSE commented after the case that if a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the life changing injuries suffered by one employee could have been prevented.
