Sussex-based recycling company, Ereco, EMEA Corporation Limited, has been fined after a massive explosion and fire occurred at their site on 3rd October 2011.
The explosion, which was caused by printer toner being stored on site, occurred on their site at the Hobbs Industrial Estate in Lingfield, Surrey, left eight people injured, five of them seriously. One employee was left in hospital for 15 weeks in an induced coma.
The Health and Safety Executive and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service conducted a joint investigation, concluding that the company had failed to ensure there was a safe system of work in place to reduce the risk of dangerous substances.
This system of work could have been introduced through suitable fire risk assessments and by following the guidelines outlined in the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations, 2002.
The investigation also highlighted that Paramount Waste Extraction Ltd, who designed the machinery that Ereco used to shred and press the toner cartridges, didn’t consider that the machine could be misused by overloading the processing of toner with more than a residual amount of toner powder left inside.
At an earlier hearing, Ereco EMEA had pleaded guilty to breaching section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, as well as an offence under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, for failing to take general fire precautions.
The sentencing hearing took place at Portsmouth Crown Court in December 2017 and the sentence was handed down in February this year, with the firm being fined £30,000 – £15,000 for each offence. The firm was also ordered to pay costs of an additional £30,000.
Paramount Waste Extraction Ltd also pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, resulting in a fine of £16,000 and an additional £16,000 to be paid towards court costs.
HSE inspector Michelle Canning was quoted after the hearing, stating: “All the employees involved in this incident are extremely lucky that this explosion didn’t prove fatal.
“Ereco failed to take the required precautions before starting a process of work with dangerous substances and this failure resulted in a serious, life threatening explosion. Both designers and suppliers must ensure that the risks of using their equipment are eliminated through safe design, and this should include taking into account foreseeable misuse.”
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