WEEE recycler prosecuted over nitrogen incident

During a hearing at Halesowen Magistrates Court last week (November 5), the court heard how on June 1 2009, Stephen Barnes, 47, from Birmingham, was working on the recycling machine, which has a chute to feed fridges inside to be broken up, but also contained nitrogen gas to help reduce the risk of a blast from fridges, which have the potential to explode.

The court was told how sometimes the fridges would twist and get stuck, and it was usual for workers to climb in to clear the blockages. On the day of the incident, Mr Barnes passed out because of the nitrogen inside the chute and had to be rescued by a colleague before being taken to hospital.

Mr Barnes had three days off work before making a full physical recovery. He has since suffered from a lack of sleep, flashbacks and mood swings that were are only now subsiding, the court heard.

Inspection

An HSE inspection found that the presence of nitrogen in the chute had not been assessed before people got inside to clear blockages, and also found that Overton Recycling had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment which would have identified the risks of climbing into a confined space.

The HSE said the company should also have had a system in place for clearing blockages that did not require entry into the chute.

After pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) of the Confined Spaces Regulations and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Overton Recycling was fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £6,107 in costs.

HSE inspector, Angela Gallagher, said the case highlighted the need to ensure all machinery and processes are properly assessed by companies. And, she claimed that, if this had happened in this case, the nitrogen would have been recognised as a hazard and the chute would have been identified as confined space – with the right safety system being installed as a result.

“All too often in cases like this we see multiple fatalities as people try to rescue a colleague from a confined space without taking precautions themselves. It is fortunate that no one was more seriously harmed on this occasion,” she added.

Overton Recycling

Commenting on the prosecution, a spokeswoman for Overton Recycling told letsrecycle.com: “Overton Recycling Limited regrets the incident which occurred some 18 months ago in June 2009 and acted immediately to rectify the problem that occurred.

“As illustrated by its previous good safety record the company has consistently aimed to achieve a high standard of health and safety in the workplace and continues to do so.”