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Workman burned by flaming sawdust while removing oil tank
HSE has prosecuted a school and builder after a fire at a school in 2007. Sawdust had been used to soak up waste oil from a tank being removed and the dust ignited when the builder cut the tank with an angle grinder. The fire service extinguished the fire after students were evacuated.
St Bede’s Catholic Science College, Boston Linc, was fined £2k for failing to plan the work properly and provide the builder with proper instructions for the work. R Harvey Builders, also of Boston, was fined £1k for failing to properly assess the risk.
The school was charged with breaching regulations 5(1) and 12(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, and the builders were charged under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974.
HSE inspector Jo Anderson, said: “this case highlights the extra need to work safely at schools, and to plan properly so all the risks are taken into account. If the school and the builders each knew what the other was doing, this incident would not have happened, and the worker would not have been injured.”