An aerospace company has admitted failing to provide proper training for a worker who suffered a chemical burn to his eye while cleaning out a tank containing caustic soda.
The 29-year-old, who wishes to remain anonymous, was working as a cadmium technician at Inflite Engineering Ltd’s facility in Chelmsford when the incident took place on 12 November last year.
The man was asked to clean the inside of a disused tank, which had a build-up of a solid crystalline material composed largely of solidified sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). He had not been trained to do the work and was provided with a protective mask to shield his face from the hazardous substance.
He became hot while using a metal pole to chip away at the solid crystalline material, and, as a result, his mask misted up. When he removed the mask to clean the visor, the pole caught the side of the tank and flicked some soda crystals on to his eyelid. He suffered a chemical burn to his eyelid and to the inside of his tear duct.
The HSE’s investigation found the work was not properly planned and the worker was provided with inappropriate PPE. He should have been given a ventilated visor or hood, which would have prevented the misting.
There was also no means of safely accessing the inside of the tank, and the worker was only able to enter it after climbing up two metal drums. As a result, there weren’t adequate emergency-rescue procedures in place to retrieve him should he have collapsed inside the tank. The firm should also have provided an emergency shower for rescue teams to use if they needed to enter the tank.
On 19 December last year, the firm was issued a Prohibition Notice ordering it to put in place a safe system of work. HSE inspector Vicky Fletcher said: “This incident was completely preventable. It was a specialist task involving both the risk of chemical burns from the caustic soda and also falling from the tank to the ground or, even worse, into an adjacent uncovered tank containing sodium cyanide solution. Had that happened, the consequences could have been fatal.
“Inflite Engineering Ltd failed to adequately assess the risks when they asked their employees to clean out the tank, and failed to provide adequate control measures to ensure the job could be done safely.”
Inflite Engineering appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 8 November and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £17,000 and ordered to pay £3246 in costs.
In mitigation, the company said it had complied with the enforcement notice by not allowing any further work to be carried out on the tank. The firm has no previous safety convictions.
After the hearing, inspector Fletcher added: “Non-routine specialist tasks such as this can impose unnecessary risks on employees, often with grave consequences. It is essential that thorough assessments of the risks are carried out to determine if there is sufficient in-house expertise.
“If not, then employees should be provided with the necessary training and equipment to enable them to carry out the task safely, or a specialist contractor should be appointed.”
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