The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has been fined £25,000 for exposing its employees to the risk of infection from the potentially deadly E.coli O157 bacteria.
On 9 October 2007, a worker was transferring the bacteria from a laboratory to a discard area at the HPA’s Centre for Infections in Colindale, North London. The bug was contained inside metal bins, which were placed inside a transfer trolley.
As the worker was lifting one of the bins his hand slipped, and the unit’s lid fell open, which allowed more than 100ml of the bacteria to spill on to the floor in the discard area. There were two other employees in the room and all of them were put at risk of contamination, although none of them became infected.
The HSE’s investigation found that many of the bins had defects on the lid hinges, which was the reason that the lid was able to fall open. No PPE had been issued to staff, who hadn’t received adequate training to ensure that the transfer of the bacteria was carried out in accordance with standard operating procedures.
HSE specialist inspector, Jennifer Higham, said: “E.coli O157 is a highly infectious and potentially deadly bacterium and there are well established practices for handling this safely. But in this case, these practices were not met, exposing several staff and potentially their families to a real risk of infection.
“HPA should have developed and implemented a safe system of work for dealing with E.coli O157 and for transferring and inactivating Hazard Group 3 waste. Equipment should have been well maintained and employees should have had appropriate training.”
The HPA appeared at the Old Bailey on 9 July and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA. It was ordered to pay £20,166 towards prosecution costs in addition to the fine.
In mitigation, it said it had no previous convictions and had taken immediate remedial action following the incident. It has subsequently reviewed its method of work, re-trained workers, and now carries out regular testing and maintenance on equipment. All of the bins were immediately removed form service and repaired within seven days.
A spokesperson for the Agency told SHP: “The HPA regrets the circumstances that led to the conviction and accepts the fine imposed by the court. We are keen to stress that none of the staff present at the time of this incident suffered any ill health and there was categorically no risk to the public from the spillage. Nevertheless, we accepted the seriousness of this incident, referred it immediately to the HSE, and cooperated fully with their investigation. €ﾨ€ﾨ“Since the incident, which occurred more than two and half years ago, the HPA has conducted a thorough review of its health and safety management and has taken the appropriate steps to reduce the likelihood of a similar incident occurring in future.”
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To me, cases like this illustrate why self regulation in health and safety would never work. If anybody should understand the risks from handling E-coil 0157 it is the HPA – yet still they failed to protect their staff with the most basic of precautions. Where s the common sense in that ?
Not a good sign when the Health PROTECTION Agency can’t protect it’s own staff!