14 February 2011

Company sentenced over worker's burns

Company sentenced over worker's burns : Employers liability insurance holders have been issued a warning after a chemical company was fined over an incident that left a worker with toxic burns.

On February 3rd this year, Abacus Chemical Ltd, of Greenfield Business Centre, Greenfield, North Wales, admitted three health, safety and environmental offences. The firm was instructed to pay prosecution costs of £14,000 and fined £12,000, employers liability insurance holders have been informed.

"A man has suffered permanent scarring and others have been put at risk of breathing in toxic fumes, because Abacus failed to take the appropriate measures for handling chemicals," Dr Jo-Anne Michael, the investigating inspector at Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said.

On May 7th 2009, at the company's Ellesmere Port factory, an employee was burnt on his arms and chest after two chemicals he was combining exploded, covering him in a chemical solution.

Chester Magistrates Court was told that the firm did not provide adequate equipment or protective clothing, and did not conduct a risk assessment.

The HSE prosecuted 89 offences in north-west England in 2009/10, while local authorities prosecuted 36.


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