A private hospital company has been fined £160,000 for breaching health and safety regulations after three (3) people were injured during a chlorine leak. The company pleaded guilty to two (2) charges of failing to discharge general health, safety, and welfare duty in relation to an incident on March 11, 2021, when a chemical reaction caused the toxic gas to be produced at the hospital’s hydrotherapy pool. Three (3) people were injured during the incident, resulting in one, a contractor – being admitted to hospital for his symptoms.
The court heard that on March 11, 2021, two (2) employees with relevant experience in balancing the chemicals in the hydrotherapy pool were NOT in. A contractor engineer was called to the pool, and he rang one of the experienced members of staff who attempted to talk him through the procedure over the phone.
District Judge Tim Pattinson said: “Mr XXXXX was inexperienced and untrained at carrying out this procedure. This was the problem. What should have happened, with hindsight, is very easy to see. The pool should have been closed until an appropriate, qualified engineer was available.”
The court heard that the two (2) tanks in the pool’s plant room were NOT labeled, resulting in Mr XXXXXX adding chemicals to the wrong one, causing a chemical reaction that produced the toxic gas chlorine.
The court heard that Mr XXXXX immediately began coughing, put the lid back on the tank and left the room.
Two employees also breathed in the chlorine gas.
In a victim impact statement provided to the court, Mr. XXXXX said he spent a week in bed following the incident.
The HSE said the volume of gas produced was nearly 8,000 times over the workplace exposure limit and nearly 400 times over the Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Limit (IDLH). It said that exposure to chlorine can be fatal “in minutes.”
The judge accepted the company’s argument that the strong smell gives a “clear warning” and that the plant room was “self-contained and easy to exit”, resulting in a “low likelihood of death”.
He considered the company’s efforts during Covid and its early guilty plea and reduced the fine significantly because of this. The company was fined £160,000 along with £190 surcharge and £12,520.03 costs, totaling £172,710.03.