A yoghurt manufacturer has been fined £600,000 after two staff suffered serious injuries following the release of an acidic cleaning solution.
Telford Magistrates heard that, in January 2016, one of the employees at T M Telford Dairy Ltd suffered serious burns from contact with a nitric acid cleaner, with an estimated temperature of 650C, whilst working on a faulty valve at the company’s site in Donnington Wood.
The valve blew off under pressure, causing the fluid to burst out, spraying workers. While trying to escape, one of the engineers fell from a ladder and sustained head injuries.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Keeley Eves said all injuries could have been prevented if a “suitable safe system of work” had been in place prior to the incident. In a separate safety breach, Chesterfield Poultry was fined £300,000 after an agency worker had her thumb severed on a moving part of a processing line. A HSE investigation found there was no emergency stop for the worker to stop the conveyor from her working position when she became entangled. HSE inspector Eddy Tarn said: “Companies must ensure measures are in place to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery and provide a means to stop machinery should an emergency happen.”
