Cristal Pigment UK Limited (formerly known as Millennium Inorganic Chemicals) in Stallingborough, North East of Lincolnshire, was found guilty for breaching their legal duties when one of their workers died after being exposed to a toxic chemical cloud. Another worker suffered permanent lung damage from the exposure as well.
Cristal Pigment is part of a global company that makes titanium dioxide as an inexpensive white pigment. However, the European Chemicals Agency has recently hinted that it will be classing the chemical as a respiratory carcinogen as it is suspected to cause cancer. This was just a small clue as to how dangerous the chemical can be.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that there was a build-up of titanium tetrachloride in one of the company’s vessels that had come into contact with water. This resulted in the vessel exploding, releasing its contents into the air. The chemical adversely reacted with the air and transformed into a thick and dense toxic cloud. Mr Paul Doyley worked for Cristal Pigment during the incident, and became trapped in the toxic cloud whilst the droplets of hydrochloric acid rained on him. Doyley died of his injuries a couple of weeks later.
The poisonous cloud also enveloped his colleague, Mr Ron Ingoldby. Ingoldby survived his ordeal but has been left with irreversible damage to his lungs.
An “extremely volatile” chemical
The dangerous chemical that killed one and maimed another is extremely volatile. It is often used in smokescreens outdoors for its dense appearance. In liquid form, even small amounts of the chemical can irritate the skin, with larger amounts resulting in acid burns.
Under UK legislation, employers need to make sure that they provide a safe environment for all of their employees to work in. If the nature of the work is dangerous, employers must do all they can to make sure employees are provided with necessary and appropriate safety apparatus and clothing to keep risk of harm and death to a minimum.
A guilty verdict
Cristal Pigment UK Limited was found guilty at the Grimsby Crown Court for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act for the incident. They were given a £1.8 million fine and charged £600,000 in associated costs. Cristal Pigment is no stranger when it comes to fines as they had a similar incident with the same chemical only a year and a half before this one.
The HSE also found that Cristal Pigment UK failed in their general health and safety operations. The chemical company had no established safety management procedures in place. All companies are required under UK Health and Safety laws to have proper risk assessments and controls in place, and Cristal Pigment previously admitted they had not complied with these requirements. Such safety management procedures are vital to assess where the dangers and risks are and what to do to minimise them; and if that is not possible, what should be done if an injury is sustained as a consequence. The HSE slammed the company for their additional “failure to take reasonable steps to put the emergency plan into effect without delay.”
