A hot water fatality prosecution has resulted in a catering equipment cleaning company being fined £200,000 after a worker died after falling into a tank of hot water.

The man fell through the lid of a tank of hot water heated to 76° centigrade and died a week later in hospital.

It happened on 8 January 2018 when the worker was standing on the lid of a covered tank at Pan Glo (UK) Ltd, in Skelmersdale, Lancashire when it gave way.

He was pulled from the hot water by a colleague and taken to hospital but had sustained 37% burns from which he did not recover.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company Pan Glo (UK) Ltd, previously known as Cleanbake Ltd, had failed to carry out risk assessments or develop written systems of work for any maintenance to the tank line. There was no instruction about what should or should not be done when access to the restricted rear area was necessary, including whether it was acceptable to walk across the tops and lids of the tanks. This resulted in employees routinely accessing the area in this way, placing themselves at significant risk and which subsequently led to this death.

At Preston Magistrates’ Court on October 18, Pan Glo (UK) Ltd of Seddon Place, Skelmersdale, Lancashire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,597.17.

“This was a tragic incident, and our thoughts remain with the family involved.

“The death of this man could easily have been prevented had the company acted to identify and manage the risks involved, and to put a safe system of work in place.”

HSE principal inspector Helen Jones

Risk Assessment

Employers are required by law to protect your employees, and others, from harm.  Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the minimum an employer must do is:

• identify what could cause injury or illness in your business (hazards)
• decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously (the risk)
• take action to eliminate the hazard, or if this isn’t possible, control the risk

Assessing risk is just one part of the overall process used to control risks in the workplace.  For most small, low-risk businesses the steps that employers need to take are straightforward.  Risk management is a step-by-step process for controlling health and safety risks caused by hazards in the workplace.  An employer can undertake the risk assessment themselves or appoint a competent person to help.  The five steps of a risk assessment are:

• Identify hazards
• Assess the risks
• Control the risks
• Record your findings
• Review the controls

Identify hazards

Look around your workplace and think about what may cause harm (these are called hazards). Think about:

• how people work and how plant and equipment are used
• what chemicals and substances are used
• what safe or unsafe work practices exist
• the general state of your premises

Look back at previous accident and ill health records as these can help you identify less obvious hazards. Take account of non-routine operations, such as maintenance, cleaning or changes in production cycles.  Think about hazards to health, such as manual handling, use of chemicals and causes of work-related stress.  For each hazard, think about how employees, contractors, visitors or members of the public might be harmed.

Some workers have particular requirements, for example young workers, migrant workers, new or expectant mothers and people with disabilities.  Ensure that you involve your employees as they will usually have good ideas.

Assess the risks

Once you have identified the hazards, decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how serious it could be – this is assessing the level of risk. In assessing the level of risk, decide:

• Who might be harmed and how
• What you’re already doing to control the risks
• What further action you need to take to control the risks
• Who needs to carry out the action
• When the action is needed by

Control the risks

Look at what you are already doing, and the controls you already have in place to ensure the safety of workers and others. Consider:

• Can I get rid of the hazard altogether?
• If not, how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely?

If you need further controls, consider:

• redesigning the job
• replacing the materials, machinery or process
• organising your work to reduce exposure to the materials, machinery or process
• identifying and implementing practical measures needed to work safely
• providing personal protective equipment and making sure workers wear it

Put the controls you have identified in place. It is important to remember that you are not expected to eliminate all risks but you need to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from harm. This means balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the real risk in terms of money, time or trouble.

Record your findings

If you employ 5 or more people, you must record your significant findings, including:

• the hazards (things that may cause harm)
• who might be harmed and how
• what you are doing to control the risks

The HSE has a number of example risk assessments on its website as a guide for employers.  Employers should not rely purely on paperwork, as the main priority should be to control the risks in practice.

Review the controls

You must review the controls you have put in place to make sure they are working. You should also review them if:

• they may no longer be effective
• there are changes in the workplace that could lead to new risks such as changes to:
• staff
• a process
• the substances or equipment used

Also consider a review if your workers have spotted any problems or there have been any accidents or near misses.  You should then update your risk assessment record with any changes you make.

If you require advice on health and safety in your workplace, please contact one of the Jacksons team.