In January 2011 an explosion at Sterecycles waste treatment facility on Sheffield Road, Rotherham resulted in the death of one man and left another seriously injured (see letsrecycle.com story). The autoclave at the site was part of the waste treatment process.
An HSE spokesman confirmed to letsrecycle.com this week that the investigation was still on-going and that there was no indication available as to when it would be concluded.
He said: The investigation is still very much on-going. Its a joint investigation with the police which are still the lead authority.
South Yorkshire Police, which attended the incident last year, confirmed this week that their investigation was still continuing.
Sterecycle said that due to the on-going investigation it was unable to comment.
Guidance
In 1990 the HSE published the PM73 document which outlined guidance for the operation of autoclave technology. The guidance was later updated in 1998 and now is set to be updated further owing to developments in the technology and due to industry demand.
Commenting on the reasons behind the update Paul Grady, HM Specialist Inspector at the HSE, said: The guidance was prepared because there have been two fatalities in the UK since 2008 and three near misses where the door has come open but nobody has been injured.
It has been looked at because of general accident history and potential new applications, meaning we have wanted to get the guidance up-to-date so it would target the needs of the industry and help to give them a clearer idea of what to consider and how to control the risks.
The guidance is currently undergoing an internal review by the HSE with the hope that it will be published in the summer of 2012. The new document will focus on the use of autoclaves in the waste and recycling industry and will give more prominence to the automated operation of the technology.
Mr Grady explained that at present there are no harmonised European and UK standards for the operation of autoclaves, particularly those with a door that is used for regularly loading the vessel.
Sterecycle
Last week (March 13) Sterecycle announced that it was looking at the possibility of becoming a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange through its acquisition by Spara Acquisition One Corp (SAO). SAO is a capital pool company which has no assets other than cash.
Commenting on the proposed acquisition Tom Shields, Sterecycles chief executive, said: The acquisition under consideration is a way of becoming a public company. This would provide a greater opportunity to raise investment to fund our growth plans helping us to drive growth further and faster.
If there is a transaction the business activities of Sterecycle would not change but we would have the opportunity to raise funding from investors by offering shares in the company on a public market.
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