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August 11, 2014

BOC to pay £260,000 after explosion injures workers

BOC Ltd, a multinational industrial gas supplier based in Surrey, was sentenced on 7 August at Bristol Crown Court, after an explosion at one of its manufacturing plants in Bristol left one worker with life changing injuries. 

HSE prosecuted BOC Ltd after a plant explosion and fire caused Alan Garton, 57, from Bristol, to suffer serious burns and injuries. Two other employees, Craig Knight and Dale Roberts were also injured in the incident.   

The court heard how on 7 January 2010 Mr Garton, at that time an employee at BOC Ltd’s Dissolved Acetylene Filling Plant at Whitby Road in Brislington, was filling an acetylene cylinder as part of a routine operation when the incident happened. The acetylene solution within the cylinder became unstable and the cylinder exploded, starting a fire which was allowed to burn for eight days, until, after careful consideration, it was extinguished by Avon Fire & Rescue Service.  

Mr Garton suffered multiple lacerations and significant burns to his left thigh, left arm and head. 

An investigation by HSE found that BOC had failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees and did not take necessary measures to prevent a major accident. 

BOC Ltd, of Priestley Road, Surrey Research Park, Guildford was fined £175,000 with costs of £85,000 after admitting breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. No evidence was presented on the other charge concerning a breach of the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999.

In summary HH Judge Longman said: “Alan Garton was a very experienced employee at the plant who was performing his duties properly when the explosion took place. Mr Garton suffered severe psychological and physical injuries as a result. It is important to emphasise that there are no suggestions that Mr Garton is in any way to blame or that his behaviour contributed to the explosion in any way.”

He added: “The exact cause of this incident has never been ascertained because of the destruction of the equipment involved. It can be said that, as the valve was the only moving part of the cylinder, the incident must be attributed to the valve.”

Sentencing, HH Judge Longman, said: “The defendant company accepts that there should have been greater monitoring of the human elements in the system, while submitting too that the company was not out of step with industry standards at the time. There is no evidence that human error led to the incident, it is possible that it was a cause. This should be set against the background of the safe operation of the plant”.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Evan Bale, said: “Acetylene is a colourless gas which is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is very unstable in its pure form and is normally dissolved in a solution within a cylinder prior to distribution. The company fell below the standard expected for controlling risks associated with handling this hazardous chemical. 

In a statement BOC Ltd said: “We can confirm that BOC Ltd pleaded guilty under section 2, part 1 of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, following an incident at its plant in Bristol in January 2010. We accept the verdict of the court and we have already put in place the recommendations of the HSE. We deeply regret that three of our colleagues were injured in the incident and the disruption to local businesses and the community.”

Further information about explosives can be found on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/index.htm

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