A Yorkshire steelworker was almost killed when he was showered with molten metal after a major explosion.
The 49-year-old worker suffered appalling burns and other injuries at Tata Steel UK’s Speciality Steels plant in Rotherham in March 2012.
The incident began when 25 tons of molten metal spilt from a furnace after a furnace control system fault.
Two workers hosed water onto the spillage to cool the metal down, following usual procedures at the site. However, a massive explosion resulted in one of the men being covered in molten metal.
After being treated by colleagues at the scene, the man was rushed to the specialist burns unit at Wakefield’s Pinderfields Hospital, where he was taken into the intensive care unit.
He spent three weeks in an induced coma and required multiple skin grafts and operations to reconstruct his forehead, ears and eyes. He has now been able to return to work.
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive investigated the incident and brought a prosecution against Tata at Sheffield Crown Court for serious breaches of safety legislation.
The court was told that just weeks before the incident, a fire damaged the control system and temporary repairs were made until new parts could be fitted. The day the incident occurred, an electrician was told to remove the temporary repairs as staff believed the fault was fixed.
But an alarm activated as molten metal was poured into a ladle underneath afterwards and the furnace was locked into position. An emergency mechanism designed to prevent molten metal being released then failed.
The HSE said Tata did not have procedures in place to deal with molten metal spills and no proper risk assessment had taken place. Inspectors discovered workers would routinely hose water onto spilt molten metal, with the resultant risk of explosion, which was well known.
Tata Steel UK Ltd, of Millbank, London, pleaded guilty to offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was ordered to pay fines totalling £180,000 plus £82,979.26 costs.
“This was a horrific incident that left a worker with life-changing injuries, which have had a devastating impact on him and his family,” said HSE inspector Denise Fotheringham.
“Tragically, it could have been avoided had Tata assessed the risks of dealing with molten metal spillages.
“The company’s business is to make steel, but they had no procedures for dealing with these spillages, leading to employees using hoses to cool the metal. This was very dangerous but the scale of risk had not been recognised by workers, who had received no other information or instruction on what to do.
“The resulting explosion was massive and a man nearly lost his life. He remains badly scarred by what happened that day.
“Tata no longer uses water to cool spillages and the risk has been eliminated. If the company had done this prior to the incident, this worker and his family would not be where they are today.”
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