Industry news
Employee burned at boss's house
Posted Wed, 23 May 2012
The director of a firm in Totton must pay almost £4,500 after a worker was burned while cutting off the top of a gas tank at the director's home.
Jamie Thomas Jewell, of Calmore, Totton, asked a 29-year-old worker from Winchester to use a disc cutter on the unused propane canister, which set the gasses on fire. The worker, who does not wish to be named, was burned on his torso, abdomen and left arm in September last year.
An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the tank was not empty and had not been made safe. No assessment had been carried out into risks of the work and the employee was not passed any information, training or instruction, the HSE found.
Jewell, 40, who is the director of Suffix Pre-cast Ltd of Brokenford Business Park, Brokenford Lane, Totton, Southampton, was out of his depth with the work, West Hampshire Magistrates' Court was told. The director, of Calmore, Totton, Hants, admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was prosecuted as an individual.
He must pay a £2,000 fine, along with £2,451 in costs.
Copyright Press Association 2012