Glass bottle manufacturer receives six-figure fine after worker suffered burns
A global glass bottle manufacturer has been fined after a worker was burnt by molten glass and hot water.
O-Glass Limited continually operates furnaces that are used to melt raw materials, from which glass bottles are manufactured. The furnaces and production lines are located on the floor above two glass reject basements, which house large, moveable skips. Molten or formed glass is rejected into these skips, via chutes, during the production process. Coolant water runs down each chute with the rejected molten or formed glass, which in turn generates very hot water and large amounts of steam.
Due to the continuous nature of the operation, the skips would quickly fill and sometimes reject material and water would spill from the skips onto the basement floors. Employees working in these basements used shovel loaders to clear this spilled material from the floors, which was then emptied into other skips.
On 3 February 2024, a worker was operating a shovel loader at O-I Glass Limited’s premises in Alloa, clearing the waste molten glass and hot water from the basement floor. However, there was no protective door on the cab of the vehicle, so some of that material spilled from the bucket onto him. The man suffered scald burns to 8 percent of his body but has since been able to make a full recovery.
When it was first provided for use, the loader was fitted with a protective door incorporating a glass window, in front of the cab. However, an HSE investigation established that the protective door had been missing since March 2022. It had been removed from the vehicle after being damaged, and although this was reported to the site engineer, no action was taken to replace it. In almost two years that then went by, other operatives had reported being struck or having footwear burnt by molten glass falling into the cab.
The HSE’s HSG136 guidance (A guide to workplace transport safety) states that “vehicles should be fitted with additional protection for those working ….in an inhospitable working environment…. where there is a risk of being struck by falling objects, the vehicle should be fitted with a falling-object protective structure (FOPS).’
Following the incident, the company removed the vehicle from service, and it didn’t return until June 2024, after being fitted with a steel front door, incorporating a glass window with protective wire mesh.
Breach
O-I Glass Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Section 33(1) of Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:
Penalty
O-I Glass Limited was fined £600,000.
Sign company and director fined after the fatal fall of a worker
Fine have been handed out after an employee fell from an unguarded scaffolding tower and later died from his injuries.
On 22 November 2022, the employee was installing a metal sign to the front of a shop in Darwen, Lancashire. He was standing on the platform of a scaffolding tower without any edge protection in place, when he fell to the pavement below.
Although the employee only fell from a height of six feet, it was enough for him to suffer serious head injuries. Sadly, the employee died from his injuries four days later.
An HSE investigation found that WH Metals Limited and its director, who was on site at the time of the incident, failed to prevent the risk of a fall from a distance liable to cause personal injury.
Breach
WH Metals Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:
- Section 2(1) applies a duty on every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees.
The company’s director pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:
- Where an offence by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent, connivance or as a result of the neglect of any director, manager, secretary or similar officer, Section 37 makes these persons also guilty of the offence by the body corporate.
Penalty
WH Metals Limited was fined £45,000 with costs of £4,826.
The company’s director was given a 26-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay costs of £4,846.
Fines issued after a worker was run over by a forklift truck
Qube Containers Limited has been fined after an employee was run over and dragged by a forklift truck, causing serious injuries.
On 11 December 2023, the employee was unloading cars from shipping containers at the company’s site in Ipswich. The employee was working with the driver of the forklift truck to empty two small bins, filled with waste packaging, including ratchet straps and chocks, into a larger commercial waste bin.
The two tipping bins had been positioned on a pallet, which was being carried on the forks of the forklift truck. The employee was standing on the pallet and as the forklift truck moved, some of the straps fell from the full waste bins, trailing on the floor and getting caught in the wheels of the lift truck. One of these straps got caught on his foot, pulling him to the ground and the forklift truck drove over his foot.
The employee remained in hospital for nine days, requiring skin grafts on the outside of his left calf and behind his left thigh just above his knee. He also sustained a broken ankle.
An HSE investigation found that Qube Containers Limited had failed to provide safe and suitable equipment for the task and had also failed to risk assess the system of work for emptying the bins.
Additionally, traffic routes were not organised in a safe manner, and it was clear that vehicles and pedestrians circulated in close proximity.
Breach
Qube Containers Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Penalty
Qube Containers Limited was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £3,752 in costs.
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