Print firm fined after flash fire injuries
A printing company has been fined £12,000 after two workers were burned in a flash fire when vapours from a flammable cleaning fluid ignited.
The two men – employed by Delta Display Limited in Walthamstow, northeast London – suffered burns and one suffered serious breaks to both legs as he tried to escape the fire in a print room last May.
In a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the court heard that the workers had been using a solvent to hand-clean the ‘blankets’ of a printing press – a regular task to clear the build-up of ink. The solvent, called QE3, had a flash point of -20°C.
When a flash fire suddenly ignited, one of the men jumped from the press over a safety rail to escape, shattering his left ankle, fracturing his right heel and sustaining burns on his right calf and left arm – injuries which saw him off work for at least four months. The second worker received burns to his arms. Fellow staff were able to extinguish the fire.
The court heard that the firm had ignored guidance given by the printing press manufacturers that there was a danger of fire and explosion if any cleaning agent with a flash point below 55°C was used.
If the company had completed a sufficient risk assessment, they would have identified that using the solvent as a cleaning agent with this type of press was dangerous, and they could have substituted it for a safer cleaning material.
The company introduced ‘safer alternative days’ after the incident, but made little effort beforehand to consider the risks and put a system of work in place that would better protect their workers, said the HSE.
Delta Display Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 and was fined £12,000 with £5,250 costs.
In a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the court heard that the workers had been using a solvent to hand-clean the ‘blankets’ of a printing press – a regular task to clear the build-up of ink. The solvent, called QE3, had a flash point of -20°C.
When a flash fire suddenly ignited, one of the men jumped from the press over a safety rail to escape, shattering his left ankle, fracturing his right heel and sustaining burns on his right calf and left arm – injuries which saw him off work for at least four months. The second worker received burns to his arms. Fellow staff were able to extinguish the fire.
The court heard that the firm had ignored guidance given by the printing press manufacturers that there was a danger of fire and explosion if any cleaning agent with a flash point below 55°C was used.
If the company had completed a sufficient risk assessment, they would have identified that using the solvent as a cleaning agent with this type of press was dangerous, and they could have substituted it for a safer cleaning material.
The company introduced ‘safer alternative days’ after the incident, but made little effort beforehand to consider the risks and put a system of work in place that would better protect their workers, said the HSE.
Delta Display Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 and was fined £12,000 with £5,250 costs.
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