A firm specialising in diesel fuel injection has been fined after a worker was set on fire at its Derbyshire premises.
The 23-year-old apprentice mechanic had been with Swadlincote Diesel Fuel Injection Services Ltd. for 18 months. On 16 March 2009, he and another employee were burning rubbish in an old drum. In order to get the fire going, the second man poured waste fuel on to it, causing an explosion. The apprentice was able to get his arms up to cover his face but the overalls he was wearing caught fire and he burned his arms, hands and neck.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which investigated the incident, told Derby Magistrates' Court that the company did not have a safe system of work for handling, storing or using flammable substances.
Swadlincote Diesel Fuel Injection Services Ltd., of Ryder Close, Cadley Hill Industrial Estate, Swadlincote, pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £4,000.