Health and safety consultants bring you the latest in health and safety news, for further information please contact us on free phone 0800 1696 972.
Company fined £100,000
employees suffered from painful allergic dermatitis over four year period
On the 28 September 2006, the company Photo-Me International plc was fined a total of £100,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 costs at Bristol Crown Court for health and safety offences. The company pleaded guilty on 16 August 2006 at Bristol Magistrates’ Court and was committed to the Crown Court for sentence. Photo-Me was fined £30,000 for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and £10,000 for 6 separate breaches of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations for failing to make adequate risk assessments, not preventing or controlling exposure of employees to chemicals, and for not providing any ‘health surveillance’ of employees at-risk. They were also fined £10,000 for not reporting a case of the disease to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and were ordered to pay the £30,000 costs.
HSE investigating inspector Liam Osborne after the case hearing, said: “This is a important case. Allergic dermatitis is a painful skin disease that employers need to manage as effectively as the general safety of their workers. Photo-Me knew of the risks to health that these chemicals posed, yet failed to assess those risks properly and provide proper systems of work and control measures, including correct personal protective equipment, to reduce the risk of harm. Controlling dermatitis is not difficult. It is as simple as A, P, C – Avoid contact with skin, by taking all the steps you can to modify the task or process; Protect the skin by implementing a good skin care regime; and Check for early signs of dermatitis to ensure that the control measures are working. The size of the penalty demonstrates the Court’s approach to this type of failure in the workplace.”
This case followed an HSE investigation that revealed significant failings in the company’s management and control of exposure to chemicals. Its workers at its premises located in Bristol were exposed to hazardous chemicals over a four-year period leading to the onset of a disease called allergic contact dermatitis. Stuart White, 37 from Cheltenham, suffered four years of his skin blistering, cracking, splitting and weeping because of this allergic dermatitis. Two other employees, Derek Corcoran, from Crumlin in Gwent, South Wales, and Barry Woolford, from Ipsden in Oxfordshire, also suffered the symptoms of allergic dermatitis. Mr Woolford’s fingers and hands became so badly swollen and blistered that he could not even do up his shirt buttons without his fingers splitting open. All three employees of the company had been working with photographic chemicals.
In his summing-up, His Honour Judge Simon Darwell-Smith said: “There was little or no consideration given to whether chemicals should or could have been pre-mixed to avoid engineers mixing photographic chemicals at home or inadequate places such as supermarket lavatories.” He added that Photo-Me had “only the trappings of a health and safety policy and training documentation…which was insufficient.” The Judge commented on the thoroughness of the HSE investigation that was carried out.
Notes for editors:
1. Photographs showing the extent of the disease is available from HSE Press Office from 0207 717 6700.
2. Chemical-related ill health causes a significant and unnecessary burden of work-related ill health in Great Britain. HSE has established a Disease Reduction Programme (DRP) as part of the FIT31 Strategic Programme. The aim of the Disease Reduction Programme is to achieve a reduction in the incidence of work-related ill health caused by exposure to chemicals and hazardous agents.
3. Skin disease, particularly work-related contact dermatitis (irritant and allergic) accounts for a significant proportion of this ill health. A specific Skin Disease Project has been set up within the DRP to address this. The aim of the Skin Disease Project is to achieve a 10% reduction in the incidence of dermatitis by 2008, when compared with the incidence in 2004. Achievement of this target is an essential element of HSC’s Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets.
4. ‘Allergic dermatitis’ can produce a painful allergic reaction of the skin following further contact with the chemicals, even in minute quantities
5. The strategic approach of the Skin Disease Project is;
6. Awareness raising
7. Provision of advice and support to industry
8. Enforcement
9. A lot of guidance on preventing skin disease is currently available from HSE and industry. HSE’s guidance, and links to other relevant industry guidance, can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/index.htm
10. A number of initiatives are underway or are being developed within the Skin Disease Project, including nationwide awareness raising campaigns, such as ‘Bad Hand Day’ aimed at hairdressers and ‘Prevent work related dermatitis – it’s in your hands’.
11. Help in dealing with this type of incident can be obtained from www.ukhealthandsafetytraining.co.uk who can help in establish health and safety systems and appropriate training.