A solvent recycling firm in West Yorkshire has been prosecuted for
safety failings that led to a major spillage of nearly 4,000 litres of highly
flammable liquid from a road tanker.
Employees at the Tradebe Solvent Recycling Ltd site in Knottingley were
exposed to serious risk that the liquid might ignite.
Three workers waded into the pool of harmful liquid when it was
discovered. One used his finger to block a drain hole to prevent it from
flowing into the site drain and from there to the river. Two others went to
find sand for the drain hole and brushes to sweep the liquid elsewhere.
Wakefield Magistrates heard (19 June) that no steps were taken to
immediately halt traffic movements on the site, producing a risk of ignition.
The incident, on 16 December 2011, was investigated by the Health and
Safety Executive (HSE), which brought a prosecution for safety failings against
Tradebe Solvent Recycling Ltd.
The court was told that after a shift change at the Weeland Road site,
one operative started to fill a tanker with paint thinners unaware it had been
filled with industrial denatured alcohol, or methylated spirits, by the
previous shift. The vehicle was left for about 15 minutes with the pump running
while the worker went to get some paperwork.
When he returned, some four tonnes - around 3,800 litres - of highly
flammable liquid had spilled and pooled. The three employees eventually managed
to block the site drain and the remaining spill was recovered to a fixed
storage tank using a vacuum hose. Traffic movement on site was not halted until
the firm’s health and safety manager arrived some time later.
HSE found that the company did not have a safe
system in place for filling the tankers, despite the fact that solvent
recycling was the primary element of the business. In addition there were
failings in procedures at important times such as shift changeover and some
inadequate training.
Tradebe Solvent Recycling Ltd, part of the Tradebe Waste Management
group, a multi-national business, admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health
and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by exposing employees to danger while loading
highly flammable liquids and recovering a spillage. The company, of Sandycroft,
Deeside, Flintshire, Wales, was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £2,070 in
costs.
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