Risk, Health and Safety Information

Firm fined after employee burns eyelid with caustic soda

An aerospace company has been fined for safety failings after an Essex worker injured his eye whilst cleaning out a tank containing caustic soda.

The 39-year-old, who does not want to be named, sustained a chemical burn to his eyelid and inside his tear duct after flicking sodium hydroxide crystals into his face at Inflite Engineering Ltd in Chelmsford on 12 November 2011.
He required emergency treatment at hospital, but avoided a more serious injury thanks to prompt and effective action by his workmates.

Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard today (6 November) that the employee was standing in a tank containing a solid crystalline material composed largely of solidified sodium hydroxide (caustic soda).

Whilst chipping away at the solid crystalline material, his protective mask misted up and as he took it off to clean the visor, some caustic soda crystals flicked onto his eye lid. Had the chemical made contact with his eye it could have caused permanent damage to his vision.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Inflite Engineering Ltd, which operates sites in Chelmsford, Stansted and Manchester, could and should have done more to prevent the incident and protect the worker.
He was not only exposed to risks from working with a hazardous material, but could also have fallen into or from the storage tank.

The company, of Inflite House, Stansted Airport, admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £17,000 and ordered to pay £3,246 in costs.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Vicky Fletcher commented:

"This incident was completely preventable. It was a specialist task involving both the risk of chemical burns from the caustic soda, and also falling from the tank to the ground or, even worse, into an adjacent uncovered tank containing sodium cyanide solution. Had that happened, the consequences could have been fatal.

"Inflite Engineering Ltd failed to adequately assess the risks when they asked their employees to clean out the tank, and failed to provide adequate control measures to ensure the job could be done safely.

"Non-routine specialist tasks such as this can impose unnecessary risks on employees, often with grave consequences. It is essential that thorough assessments of the risks are carried out to determine if there is sufficient in-house expertise.

"If not, then employees should be provided with the necessary training and equipment to enable them to carry out the task safely, or a specialist contractor should be appointed."