A judge has slammed the boss of a gas-supply firm for lying throughout his trial for safety failings, following an explosion at a factory in St Helens.
John Webster, who is managing director of North West Gases Ltd, was found guilty of failing to protect himself and workers following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court. The prosecution relates to an explosion at the firm’s factory on 10 April 2008.
On the day of the incident, Webster and another worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, were attempting to remove a valve on a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder, which the company produced for a range of uses, including powering forklift trucks.
They failed to ensure that the cylinder was empty and when they unscrewed the valve, gas escaped into the workshop. When Webster attempted to put a new valve on the cylinder, the gas ignited and caused an explosion. Webster’s clothes were set on fire, and the other worker was thrown across the building. Both suffered serious burns to their hands, face, and legs. They were taken to a specialist burns unit and both suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. A third employee suffered minor injuries during the explosion.
HSE inspector Warren Pennington told SHP that Webster claimed he instructed his colleague to ensure that the cylinder was empty. This version of events was disputed by the injured worker who said that Webster was aware that the gas hadn’t been drained, and they heard it escaping when they loosened the valve.
Inspector Pennington explained that Webster should have removed the gas before making alterations to the cylinder. He and his colleague continued with the work despite the sound of the gas escaping, and gave no consideration to the multiple potential ignition sources in the workshop.
“Mr Webster’s failure to carry out even the most basic of safety checks led to what was an entirely preventable incident,” said inspector Pennington. “He failed to ensure that the cylinder was empty and didn’t check for any potential sources of ignition in the building, any of which could have caused this explosion. In this case, the fact that no one was killed was simply down to luck.”€
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It seems that Mr Webster feels hard done by, despite the clear evidence that unsafe working practices were in use by him. To release a statement after conviction stating that he and another were in ‘correct safety equipment’ seems to demonstrate his lack of appreciation of the risk being taken. Perhaps someone with more experience of gas bottle refilling would enlighten us with what PPE actual protects a worker from the explosions and the high temperatures arising from ignition of LPG?
“The HSE had insufficient evidence to prosecute my company, so they decided to prosecute me personally.”
So, they had sufficient evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Webster was guilty of a criminal offence? Then I’m glad that he was prosecuted and made to bear the cost personally rather than see a penalty imposed against a company which almost certainly would’ve folded before paying any fine.
Absolutely criminal. The circumstance is mad as an employee id refuse to do such a blatantly dangerous thing then again i know better.
Just a bit disgusted by the whole scenario to be fair.