An oil company was slapped with a £25,000 fine after a tanker explosion in Salford left two employees with serious burns – one so severe he is unable to expose his skin to direct sunlight.
The other worker, a 32-year-old man from Eccles, was forced to spend three months in hospital, and the chances of him ever working again are slim.
In a hearing at Manchester Crown Court, the explosion at the Adler and Allan Ltd site in Walkden was found by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecutors to have been a result of unsafe tank cleaning procedures.
Following the outcome of the hearing, HSE Inspector David Norton said: “Two men were badly burned, with one suffering horrific, life-changing injuries, because their employer didn’t do enough to make sure they stayed safe.”
AFTERMATH: The blast was so strong that it destroyed part of the nearby building
On March 5 last year, the two employees were using the tanker at Plant Hill Police Station to remove fuel from disused pumps.
They then returned to the firm’s site on Harcourt Street after dropping off the waste petrol, to bring the tanker in for cleaning.
They reversed the tanker into the yard and opened its rear door. This caused an explosion which seriously burned the two men and destroyed part of a nearby building.
Inspector Norton said: “Adler & Allan are experienced in dealing with flammable substances but their risk assessment for cleaning out the tanker did not identify fire or explosion as a potential danger.
“The firm now uses a specialist contractor to clean out its tankers to avoid the risk of vapours escaping. If this procedure had been in place at the time of the incident then the injuries both men suffered could have been avoided.”
Adler and Allan Ltd were also ordered to pay £8,166 in prosecution costs after entering a guilty plea to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 on December 12 2014.
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