Engineering Company fined for burns.
An engineering company in Great Yarmouth has been fined after an incident in which a teenage welder suffered burns to his face and one of his eyes.
A 17 year old boy was instructed by another welder to use a toxic cleaning substance called pickling paste to remove burn marks inside a number of small stainless steel tanks but left without supervision. The paste contains acids that can cause severe burns if it comes into contact with skin.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found as the boy was cleaning one of the tanks, the tub of paste slipped from his grasp and hit a bench with some or the tub's contents landing on his face. This left him with severe chemical burns to his skin and right eye. Fortunately his injuries later healed with no significant scarring or long-term effects.
The company was unaware of the hazardous nature of pickling paste and should not have been using it. They had previously banned the product's use, as its corrosive effects posed a danger to staff, and replaced it with a safer electrode-based cleaning system. However, an amount was subsequently purchased for one piece of work but without any system in place to ensure its safe use.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and were fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,846.80.
Updated on 9/1/2011