Company fined for endangering workers

A firm has been issued a fine following an explosion at its factory which endangered its employees.

Warwick International - a supplier of speciality chemicals headquartered in Flintshire - pleaded guilty to a health and safety charge and was fined £12,000, as well as being ordered to pay £22,500 in costs, during a hearing at Mold magistrates' court.

The incident occurred in April 2006 when a dust explosion in the granulation plant spread to connected parts of the factory.

Firefighters took several hours to extinguish the blaze.

A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that risk assessments had not been updated and measures to prevent or mitigate an explosion in the granulation plant had not been taken, putting workers at risk.

"While the company took action quickly following the incident, our investigation showed that this was a continuing breach and they could - and should - have taken measures several years before to prevent this happening," stated HSE inspector Jo-Anne Michael.

18/07/2008 15:03