Ineos fined £400,000 after Grangemouth worker severely burned by caustic liquid

Petrochemical company Ineos has been fined £400,000 after an employee suffered severe burns while working on site in Grangemouth.

The 47-year-old man was carrying out a “routine task” when he fell into a pit of caustic solution.

The pit had needed emptying as its contents had reached the high-level design threshold the day before the incident on November 25, 2019.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HES) found that after laying out various hoses in preparation for emptying, the worker then entered the area.

INEOS has been fined £400,000 after an employee was seriously injured while carrying out a routine task at its chemicals site. Supplied

He then stepped onto the corner of a grating which fell through resulting in his right leg falling into the pit and becoming saturated with the caustic liquid.

The worker’s leg was submerged in the solution for three seconds before he pulled himself out of the pit and was later treated at the burns unit at St John’s Hospital in Livingston.

The man sustained permanent scarring to his right leg and was in pain for four weeks following the incident before returning to work the following December.

The HES investigation into the incident found Ineos had “failed to undertake a risk assessment” of the work involved and that there was also no safe system of work in place.

The investigation found that the grating was not secured and there were no barriers in place to prevent a fall into the pit.

HSE guidance stated that employers, or an appointed competent person, must identify hazards before work takes place, before assessing and controlling the risks involved.

The company was fined £400,000 at Falkirk Sheriff Court on Friday.

HSE inspector Lindsey Stein said: “The duties on employers to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks and to provide a safe system of work are absolute within health and safety legislation and well understood.

“The dangerous properties of caustic are widely known and this incident could so easily have been avoided with the implementation of straightforward control measures identified through assessment.”

Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: “This accident could have been avoided had the risks been recognised and appropriate systems of work put in place in ensuring workers were protected from harm when working in this area.

“Ineos Chemicals Grangemouth Limited’s failure to assess the risks posed resulted in the severe injury and permanent disfigurement of one of their workers.

“This prosecution should remind duty holders that a failure to manage and implement effective measures can have serious consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure.”