Packaging firm fined £200k over worker's gas death
HSEA food packaging firm has been fined £200,000 after one of its workers was exposed to harmful gas and later died.
Alec Cole, an employee at Futamura Chemical UK Ltd in Wigton, Cumbria, was exposed to hydrogen sulphide gas on Christmas Eve in 2021 and died in hospital the next day.
An inquest concluded that on the balance of probabilities, hydrogen sulphide had contributed to his death, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.
The HSE found that Futamura failed to adequately risk assess its production process and the gas entered the site's drainage system.
Hydrogen sulphide is a clear gas, that smells of rotten eggs and depending on its concentration and the length of time exposed to it, symptoms can range from dizziness to death, the HSE said.
The victim, also known as Alexander, was found collapsed in a pump room on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Delivery driver, Robert Dyer, attempted to assist him but was also overcome by the gas but soon regained consciousness, the HSE said.
The HSE said the firm 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, inspectors found.
This meant there was a risk that the gas could be released from the drains, putting people at risk.
The company, based in Station Road, admitted breaching two health and safety at work regulations.
It was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs at Warrington Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
'A tragic case'
HSE inspector Matthew Shepherd said it was a "tragic case".
"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," he said.
