Unsafe design leaves chemical manufacturer with £1.2m fine

摘要

In this feature, we look at a fine of £1.2 million that was imposed on an industrial chemicals manufacturer following an explosion in which hydrogen ignited during the commissioning of a new plant. The manufacturer, Industrial Chemicals, had not provided a safe design for part of the plant handling the hydrogen, and its flawed use of the HAZOP (hazard and operability study) approach meant it failed to assess the risks of the process adequately. The fine represents 54.5% of the company's most recent pre-tax profit and 1.26% of turnover. The incident occurred on 26 September 2013 at Industrial Chemicals' site at West Thurrock in Essex. The blast, which left two workers with minor injuries, happened during the operation of a hydrochloric acid (HC1) burner that formed part of the wider chlor-alkali plant at the site. In the HC1 burner, hydrogen and chlorine gases are taken in, burned and combined to make hydrogen chloride (HC), which is then dissolved in water to produce HCl.