A fabric firm based in Rochdale has been fined £10,000 after one of its employees suffered severe chemical burns on his body.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation into the company, PW Greenhalgh and Co Ltd. after the incident occurred at its factory at Newhey Bleach Works. It found that the company did not have a safe system in place for those using the bleaching equipment.
Last month (21st November) Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard how the worker, 47, from Shaw, who has asked to remain anonymous, had climbed up onto the container in June 2014 in an attempt to free some cloth that had become stuck between mangle rollers. However, as he did so he slipped, falling into an open container filled with the corrosive solution, which is used to bleach fabric. The man suffered severe chemical burns to his arms, legs, chest, lips and groin and a large cut to the bridge of his nose and eyebrow. He had to be airlifted to Wythenshawe Burns Unit and take over three weeks off work as a result of his injuries.
The investigation by the HSE found that the company hadn’t carried out a sufficient risk assessment for use of the bleaching equipment. They found that, when the machine became jammed employees often climbed onto the containers, which didn’t have lids. In addition, none of the staff had received any training on dealing with hazardous substances.
Upon its visit to the factory, the HSE issued the company with four enforcement notices concerning unsafe working practices. Since then, PW Greenhalgh and Co Ltd. has conducted sufficient risk assessments and put in place safer systems of work. It is using lids on the containers, handrails and is fitting permanent stepladders on all bleach containers. The company was fined £10,000 and told to pay £718 in prosecution costs after it pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
“An employee has suffered severe chemical burns because PW Greenhalgh and Co’s safety procedures weren’t good enough,” said HSE Inspector Emily Osborne.
“Workers were expected to climb onto vats of bleach to clear blockages from the bleaching equipment as a safe system of work had not been devised. The company knew employees were working with hazardous substances but it failed to take any action to tackle the risks.
“If the measures the company implemented following the incident, such as installing fixed stepladders and lids on the containers, had been there at the time then the employee’s injuries could easily have been avoided.”
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