Recycling firm fined £3,000 for flammable liquid spillage TRADEBE SOLVENT
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Recycling has been fined £3,000 following a spillage of nearly 4,000 litres of highly flammable liquid from a tanker at its West Yorkshire site.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), told Wakefield Magistrates that in December 2011, after a shift change at the Knottingley facility, a worker began to fill a tanker with paint thinners, unaware it had been filled the previous shift. The vehicle was left for about 15 minutes with the pump running while the worker went to get some paperwork. When he returned, 3,800 litres of liquid had spilled and pooled.
Three workers waded in and one put his finger in a drain hole to prevent the liquid flowing into the site drain. They managed to block the drain and the remaining spill was recovered to a tank.Traff ic movement on site was not halted until the firm's health and safety manager arrived some time later.
An HSE investigation found employees were exposed to serious risk and the company did not have a safe system in place for filling the tankers.
Tradebe admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was also ordered to pay £2,070 costs.