Pharmaceuticals firms fined for chemical incidents at Welsh plant 16 December 2013

Flintshire pharmaceutical firms Archimica Chemicals and its trading partner Euticals have been fined £80,000 and £20,000 respectively for safety breaches and a further £20,000 for environmental failures that caused major health problems for workers and releases to the environment.

Both companies are now in liquidation and the site is being decommissioned.

Mold Crown Court heard that the incidents happened at the firms' factory in Sandycroft, between November 2011 and 2012, starting with a release to atmosphere of methyl iodide, a highly toxic substance that can affect the central nervous system.

The cause was poorly-written procedures that failed to identify when a safety critical valve should be open, but there followed a catalogue of failures.

Then in February 2012, an agency worker was exposed to methyl iodide, after being provided with inadequate respiratory protection. He spent three weeks in hospital with iodine poisoning which left him with long lasting problems, including depression, headaches and speech difficulties.

Then in June and July of that year, a worker was exposed three times to methyl iodide due to inadequate decontamination training. He was treated in hospital for a full body rash and blisters on his wrist and ankles, leading to occupational dermatitis.

On 26 July 2012, an agency worker almost died from a pulmonary embolism after being exposed to methyl iodide while training. HSE found he had been issued with poorly fitted respiratory protection in the knowledge that methyl iodide levels were exceeding workplace exposure limits in many areas.

The worker was hospitalised for three months and he has been left with permanent impairment to his speech, memory and mobility. He remains prone to seizures with a high risk of deep vein thrombosis.

Finally, in November 2012, three workers were exposed to dichloromethane, a hazardous substance with narcotic and possible carcinogenic effects that are potentially fatal, when a process vessel was overfilled and overflowed into a ventilation system.

The men were unaware of the vessel's filling rate and the filling apparatus was not fitted with a trip device or alarm to prevent overfill. One of the men was rendered unconscious and all three were taken to hospital.

Archimica Chemicals admitted four beaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Euticals admitted four breaches for failing to comply with two HSE improvement notices requiring improvements to competency and training, and the provision of a system to manage, maintain, test and examine workplace equipment and machinery.

After sentencing, HSE Inspector Mark Burton, said: "The multiple failings arising from this prosecution are extremely serious and could have had even more devastating consequences.

"Two of those exposed to methyl iodide have been left with permanent, life-changing after effects. The lack of competent management, control and understanding of the site's major hazard and chemical processes could have led to these being fatal investigations, as could the incident to the workers who were exposed to methylene chloride."

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Health & Safety Executive

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