Tata Steel has been sentenced for safety offences for the second time in just over a month following a fire at its facility in Scunthorpe.
Magistrates heard that two workers narrowly avoided being killed or seriously injured when a gas pipe burst into flames during repair work. On 25 February 2009, the company detected gas leaking from an overhead pipe, which fed the central power station at the steelworks.
The leak was coming from a split in the pipe and the company contacted a specialist contractor to plug the gap using a bung and resin, but he was not able to carry out the work until the following day. The company measured the carbon monoxide levels at ground level and deemed that it was safe to delay the repairs until the following day.
The next day the contractor and another man, who worked at the site, used a cherrypicker to inspect the pipe. They found that the split had widened to a ‘fist-sized’ gap, so they decided to cover the hole with a fabricated metal plate.
When they attempted to put the first screw in place, the gas in the pipe ignited and flames jetted out of the hole. One of the men suffered superficial burns and the other was unharmed. Firefighters attended the scene and extinguished the blaze.
HSE inspector John Moran explained that the company failed to carry out a risk assessment. He told SHP that the gas supply wasn’t isolated and the pipe should have been purged with nitrogen to ensure that no gas remained.
Inspector Moran said: “This was a serious incident and a very near miss for those involved. Thankfully, on this occasion, a full recovery from the injuries sustained was possible, but it could easily have resulted in a double fatality, and it is a matter of chance that it didn’t. This poorly managed repair was gambling with people's lives by putting them in positions of extreme risk.
“Those responsible for managing safety should not ignore dangerous occurrences of this nature. Even where serious injuries are avoided, the root cause of the near miss should be thoroughly investigated, understood, and appropriate action taken. By doing this industry can prevent unnecessary incidents where the outcome might not be so favourable for those involved.”
Tata Steel UK Ltd appeared at Scunthorpe Magistrates’ Court on 25 January and pleaded guilty to breaching s5(1) and s6(1) of the Dangerous Substances and Explosives Atmospheres Regulations 2002, for failing to carry out a suitable risk assessment and endangering workers. It was fined £15,000 for each offence and ordered to pay £1696 in costs.
SHP contacted Tata Steel for a statement on the incident but we have yet to hear back from the company.
The firm was fined £13,000 in December after pleading guilty to s2(1) of the HSWA 1974, following an incident in Cumbria when part of a 300kg roller-shutter door fell on two workers.
