Prosecuted £1m plus costs
A young worker was killed by an exploding pneumatic tyre when trying to repair a puncture. The tyre belonged to a dresser or wheeled loading shovel. The company was subsequently prosecuted £1m and ordered to pay costs of £99,485
How did it happen? The resulting investigation found that the inexperienced worker was alone, using inadequate equipment that had not been maintained, he hadn’t received any training and therefore was not competent to carry out the work required. It came to light that he was asked to do the job.
Well we all get asked to do jobs, why is this different? Mundane and routine jobs like make the tea, fetch my printing, collect some paint, move this item are probably considered non-hazardous, but when we start to be asked to do hazardous jobs that we haven’t received sufficient information on, it can prove very costly. Use this chemical, carry that load, drive this truck, use this equipment its easier, don’t bother with that it takes longer. All these requests are potentially hazardous and the lack of instruction for an inexperienced worker could be catastrophic.
What should an employer/supervisor do before asking someone to do a hazardous job? Check they are competent, suitably qualified, given instruction in the form of training, tool box talks, provided with adequate supervision, informed of the risk assessment and safe working methods, told about the hazards and how to overcome them. It can never be assumed that everyone is able to do every job safely.
The employer has a duty to make sure that work equipment is safe to use, therefore has received adequate inspections and is suitably maintained for safe usage.
What happened to the company in the case you refer to? They were found to breach the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and therefore considered a criminal conviction. They were prosecuted £1m and ordered to pay costs of £99,485. It is safe to say the new sentencing guidelines are starting to become reality and this level of fine is testament to that.
So what can a company do to avoid this type of incident? There is good information on the HSE website and in terms of protecting against exploding high pressure tyres they indicate a safe system of work:
- Deflate all pneumatic tyres before removing multi piece wheels
- Ensure the wheel is safe to remove from the vehicle by examining it, check the flange ring, unless obscured then deflate the tyre before checking
- Check the condition of wheels and tyres for fatigue cracks and bulges in tyre wall, excessive wear, corrosion, distortion, deformation, impact damage etc.
- It is most effective to check once the wheel is removed and the person carrying out the examination should be competent to check the tyre in question
- Re-inflation must be completed by a competently trained person
- Initially inflate the tyre to 15psi to check the bead and loose components are properly seated
- Once confirmed higher pressures can be applied
- Suitable controls such as a pressure gauge or regulator to prevent over pressure should be used
- Use an airline of at least two metres in length to remove the operator from any trajectory as a result of explosion
- Provide a purpose built tyre enclosure (safety cage) to contain violent explosions
- Never leave a tyre during inflation and listen for potential problems (i.e. zipper failure) to avoid explosions.
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