WORKER BADLY INJURED: FIFE FIRM BACK IN DOCK AND FINED
A worker sustained horrific injuries after being struck by highly pressurised water during hydraulic testing on machinery. His employer has been fined £161,250 ($218,460) for breaching health and safety law. A testing booth should have remained automatically locked when it presented a danger to employees but this safety measure failed. The breach of health and safety legislation spanned a period of almost a decade, from the installation of the booth until the accident in 2020.
The employee noticed a leak from the machinery he was testing, went into the booth to carry out adjustments with a spanner and was struck by highly pressurised water. The accident took place at a facility, where a similar incident occurred in 2015. On that occasion, a worker lost a hand after being struck by machinery during testing.
The company admitted that between 1st January 2011 and 18th December 2020, being an employer, it failed to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of its employees when using a testing booth.
An assembly and test fitter employed by the firm was carrying out hydraulic tests on a ‘Christmas tree’ unit, a large piece of machinery used in the subsea oil and gas industry. He was carrying out the test remotely from a control unit outside the booth. However, he noticed a leak and pressed an emergency button. The booth should have remained locked while it remained a danger zone because of the highly pressurised water. This safety lock had failed and the door opened after the emergency button was pressed.
The worker went into the booth and used a spanner attempting to tighten a fitting. There was “an almighty bang” and the uncontrolled release of highly pressurised water which struck the worker, knocking him off his feet. He sustained a depressed fracture of the skull and bruising to the brain, undergoing surgery at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to have a metal plate fitted. He also suffered fractured vertebrae, pressure burns to his chest and arms and a significant puncture wound from highly pressurised water “passing through his chest from front to back”. His memory is now described as “very poor”, he suffers from mood swings, headaches and feels he is more irritable than previously.
In March 2015, at the same premises, an employee was injured in another accident during tests. He was struck by a piece of machinery and as a result had his arm amputated.
In October 2016, at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, the company was fined £10,000 after admitting health and safety failings in that incident.