A worker who had not been trained in confined-space access and egress, nor provided with adequate equipment, died of heat exhaustion inside a feed silo.
Paul Sharp, 31, was working as a cleaner for Silocheck UK and was removing fatty acids from a silo at an animal feeds factory in Wiltshire, when the incident took place, on 10 August 2006.
In order to clean the inside of the silo he had to enter through a hatch in the roof of the container. Mr Sharp had not been trained in rope-work but was asked to abseil into the silo alone, while his supervisor and another colleague remained on the roof. Once inside he used a pressure washer to steam the walls so he could scrape off the fat acid residue.
He had not been provided with the correct breathing apparatus or air blowers, and during the cleaning process, he complained to colleagues about the heat inside the container. A few moments later his colleagues heard a bang from inside the silo and shouted down to ask Mr Sharp if he was alright. When he didn’t respond they pulled him up, unconscious. He had not been provided with a winch. So there was some difficulty in getting the worker’s slumped body out through the small hatch.
One of the other workers abseiled down to straighten Mr Sharp so he could be manoeuvred out of the silo. Neither of his colleagues had first-aid training, and were only able to administer CPR after receiving advice from the emergency services over the phone. He was taken to hospital once an ambulance crew arrived, but was pronounced dead on arrival. The cause of death was determined as heat exhaustion, which triggered an underlying heart condition.
Silocheck UK appeared at Swindon Crown Court on 5 June and pleaded guilty to breaching reg.4(2) of the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997, for failing to provide a safe system of work, and reg.5(1) of the same legislation, for insufficient emergency arrangements. It was fined £15,000 for each breach and ordered to pay £15,000 towards costs.
In mitigation, the firm said it had no previous convictions and it voluntarily ceased operations following the incident to review its methods of work. It has subsequently purchased additional safety equipment and provided all of its employees with both rope- work and first-aid training.
HSE Inspector Ian Whittles said: “This tragic incident highlights the importance of appropriate training and emergency arrangements, especially when working within confined spaces. In this case, there were no appropriate systems of work, particularly with regard to access. For example, had there been a winch available, then rescuing Mr Sharp from inside the silo would have been much quicker and easier.
Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.
Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.
