A Cumbria-based producer of cellulose film packaging has been fined £200,000 after workers were exposed to harmful hydrogen sulphide gas.
On 24 December 2021, Futamura Chemical UK Ltd employee, Alexander Cole, was found collapsed in a pump room after exposure to gas at the company’s factory premises in Wigton, Cumbria.
Delivery driver Robert Dyer attempted to assist Mr Cole but was also overcome by the gas. Both men were rescued from the area and Mr Dyer quickly regained consciousness. Tragically, Mr Cole died in hospital the following day.
A subsequent inquest concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, hydrogen sulphide had contributed to Mr Cole’s death, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.
The building with the pitched roof is the pumphouse, where Mr Cole was found.
An investigation by HSE found that Futamura Chemical (UK) Ltd failed to adequately risk assess its production process, as it did not identify that hydrogen sulphide gas, a by-product of the process, was able to enter the site’s water effluent system.
A court heard that Futamura Chemical UK Ltd had conducted a risk assessment for the presence of hydrogen sulphide in the production area and implemented control measures. However, there was inadequate assessment and associated risk controls relating to the potential for hydrogen sulphide build-up in the site’s drainage system. This meant there was a risk that the gas could be released from the drains, putting people at risk of exposure.
Hydrogen sulphide is a clear gas with the smell of rotten eggs and is known to be harmful. Depending on the concentration of the gas and length of time exposed, symptoms can range from dizziness, loss of consciousness and eye irritation through to death.
HSE guidance states that employers must adequately risk assess and implement sufficient controls to reduce a person’s exposure to substances harmful to health to a level as low as is reasonably practicable.
Futamura Chemical UK pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs at Warrington Magistrates Court.
After the hearing, inspector Matthew Shepherd said, “This tragic case shows the importance of conducting a thorough and robust risk assessment to ensure that all risks are properly identified and managed. Where companies use, or produce within their processes, substances harmful to health, it is vital that they have fully considered and controlled all pathways to exposure. Failure to do so can have terrible consequences.”
This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer, Karen Park and paralegal officer, Benjamin Stobbart.
