Gas firm fined £1m after near fatality
GAS distributor National Grid has been fined £1m after a worker in Scunthorpe was trapped between two gas pipes.
The worker snapped his femur when attempting to repair a ruptured main on Ashby Road, Scunthorpe.
The incident occurred in June 2014. The Humberside Fire and Rescue Service worked in zero visibility to free the trapped engineer.
Had he not been wearing breathing apparatus, the Health and Safety Executive said he would have died.
The road was closed to traffic for fears of an explosion. It took three hours to contain the gas leak and repair the pipes.
Sheffield Crown Court was told of a number of failings by National Grid Gas including not complying with its own gas escape procedures, not carrying out sufficient risk assessments, not communicating effectively with the contractors carrying out the work and not managing the handover of key personnel.
National Grid was fined £1m and ordered to pay costs of £26,296.
HSE Inspector Ian Redshaw, said: “This incident could easily have become a fatality. National Grid Gas (Plc) failed to follow its own processes and carry out sufficient risk assessments to protect workers and the subcontractors fixing the leak.
“This whole incident should act as a stark warning to all those involved in hazardous work – you can have all the written policies in place but it you do not follow them, if you do not carry out the risk assessments for the task, people could die.”
Group manager Steve Fraser of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said: “The priority when we arrived was the injured man, and getting him out of immediate danger.
“The visibility was virtually zero due to air being dense with gas and dust, and the man had been working 10 ft below ground. The crews put themselves in a position which showed courage and bravery of the highest order. They were dealing with gas of an unknown quantity with potential for another explosion. They used pneumatic bags to prise the pipes apart and release his legs, all done in demanding circumstances.”
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