October 9th, 2009
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has fined and prosecuted a company that admitted exposing its workers to hazardous fumes from soldering equipment.
Employees at Turbo Power Systems’ plant in Gateshead had been working for up to five-and-a-half hours a day with rosin solder flux, the fumes of which are known to cause asthma.
The exposure occurred between May 2007 and May 2008 and many employees began to suffer problems with their respiratory health.
As a result, the HSE took the company to court for breaches of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. It was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs after admitting to safety failures.
HSE inspector Andrea Robbins said it had been "entirely foreseeable" that inappropriate risk assessment and control of chemicals would put the workforce at risk.
Rosin is a natural product which comes from pine sap. Fumes from rosin solder flux are a well-known cause of occupational asthma.
Tags: Andrea Robbins, Asthma, Breaches, Chemicals, Control Of Substances Hazardous To Health, Half Hours, Hazardous Fumes, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Health Regulations, Hse, Occupational Asthma, Respiratory Health, Risk Assessment, Safety Failures, Sap, Soldering Equipment, Turbo Power, Workforce
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May 20th, 2009
A man who was exposed to hazardous chemicals in the workplace has been awarded compensation.
David Owenson worked at Polestar Greaves in Scarborough, where he had to repair the solvent filters on printers and was consequently exposed to toluene.
He began to feel unwell in 2000 and sought medical advice, but was told there was not a problem. However, after continuing to feel poorly, he consulted a kidney specialist.
Mr Owenson was then told that he had impaired kidney function as a result of the toluene and that he should avoid the substance from then on.
The victim sought compensation from his employers and after a legal battle, the firm has now agreed to pay a substantial, undisclosed sum for the pain and suffering he was caused.
Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, employers must carry out risk assessments wherever exposure to hazardous substances may occur.
They must then take measures to either prevent exposure or adequately control the risks from such exposure.
Tags: Control Of Substances Hazardous To Health, Greaves, Hazardous Chemicals, Hazardous Substances, Health Regulations, Kidney Damage, Kidney Function, Kidney Specialist, Measures, Medical Advice, Pain And Suffering, Printers, Risk Assessments, Scarborough, Undisclosed Sum
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