Tata Chemicals Europe (Tata Chemicals Europe ) today pleaded guilty at Chester Crown Court to charges by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
The charges were brought as a result of three unrelated incidents which happened at the firm's Winnington site over the course of a year, in January, July and November 2010.
The incidents affected two employees and one contractor, the most serious resulting in a chemical burn to an employee's foot, though Tata Chemicals Europe has acknowledged that these incidents could have resulted in more significant injuries. The company received a fine of £100,000 and costs of £72,000.
In his judgement, the judge accepted both the challenges of operating aged plants and the substantial level of investment and effort being committed by the company to improve conditions and reduce hazards. He noted that the three incidents were entirely unconnected and not caused by a lack of safety culture in the company, further noting the company's full co-operation with the HSE throughout its investigations.
Commenting, Tata Chemicals Europe 's Managing Director Martin Ashcroft said: "Whether or not there is action from the HSE, we see any safety incident within our company as one incident too many. The events which occurred in 2010 are hugely regrettable and not characteristic of our progress on improving safety at Tata Chemicals Europe . We have seen a marked and sustained reduction in the number of incidents across all of our sites for the last three years."
The three incidents were as follow:
January 2010: A faulty sump pump caused flooding which obscured a missing grate which an employee stepped into, scalding his foot.
July 2010: An employee was exposed to carbon monoxide in a control room after a valve was left open during a routine procedure.
November 2010: Scaffolding boards supporting a damaged walkway gave way, causing a contractor to fall six feet onto the level below.
Under its safety management processes, the incidents were fully investigated by the company. Tata Chemicals Europe identified the causes and took swift action to minimise the risk of their reoccurrence. This has included improvements in the way that potential safety risks are identified and reported by the workforce, and acted on by the company.
Tata Chemicals Europe 's director for safety, Phil Davies said: "We have invested over £20m into plants and staff training over the last two years and many millions more since we became part of the Tata group in 2006. We are determined to continue the work that has happened in improving safety at Tata Chemicals Europe , as recognised by the HSE itself.
"This is a complex chemicals manufacturing site where hazards exist and we invest significant sums of money every year to guard against those hazards. We shall continue to do so, driving up safety standards wherever we can," added Phil.
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Editors' Notes
- Tata Chemicals Europe (Tata Chemicals Europe ) is the UK's market leading manufacturer and supplier of soda ash, sodium bicarbonate and salt.
- Tata Chemicals Europe operates from three factories in Cheshire: Winnington (Northwich), Lostock (Northwich) and Middlewich.
- Formerly known as Brunner, Mond and Company, it was originally founded in 1873 and was a major constituent of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) when it formed in 1926. It was divested from ICI in 1991 and was acquired by Tata Chemicals in 2006.
- Tata Chemicals Europe is wholly owned by Tata Chemicals, a global chemicals company headquartered in Mumbai, India.
For further information, please contact Stephen Bray (01606 724855 / 07720 497161 / sbray@tatachemicals.com).