A company has today been fined £10,000 after a worker received 60 per cent burns following an explosion at a Nottingham factory.
The welder from was working for the company, which manufactures industrial bakeware, on 16 December 2008 at its unit in Beeston, Nottingham.
Nottingham Magistrates Court heard that the worker was cutting metal, when a spark ignited vapours from a nearby can of thinner. The can exploded, showering him with hot liquid.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the prosecution against the company, which found that although flammable liquids were stored correctly in other parts of the site, there was no provision for the storage of the thinners in this area and that no risk assessment had been carried out.
A HSE inspector said:
"This incident was entirely preventable had simple precautions been taken. This must have been a terrifying incident for the worker, and it was only by chance that his colleague had left the work area a few moments earlier otherwise he too could have been injured.
"The HSE's investigation showed that there was little in the way of direct supervision of the work and no risk assessment was undertaken for the activities carried out in the workshop.
"Thinner is highly flammable and a risk assessment should have shown how it should have been stored safety. No appropriate store was provided for the thinners and the designated storage area was too close to the work area, with terrible results."
The company pleaded guilty to contravening regulations 5(1) and 6(1) of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 and was fined £10,000 at Nottingham Magistrates' Court. It was also ordered to pay costs of £5,227.