Two workers narrowly avoided being killed or seriously injured when flames up to three metres in length shot from a leaking gas pipe during poorly planned and executed repair work.
The incident at Tata Steel's Scunthorpe Steelworks, on Brigg Road, Scunthorpe, resulted in minor facial burns for one of the repair team, although a court heard yesterday (25 January) that both workers were extremely fortunate not to have been engulfed in the blaze.
Tata Steel UK Limited, registered to Millbank, London, pleaded guilty to two separate breaches of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) in connection to the incident. The first breach, of Regulation 5(1), related to an inadequate and unsuitable risk assessment. The second, of Regulation 6(1), concerned the fact employee safety was compromised because Tata failed to eliminate the risk arising from coke oven gas. The company was fined a total of £30,000 and ordered to pay £1,696 in costs.