Did the HSE recommend safety measures to the Wood Treatment Plant which could have caused the explosion?
- 16.11.2015
- HughPotter
- None
The blast at Bosley is a terrible tragedy; for those who were injured, those who have lost their livelihoods and the families and friends of those who are missing or feared to have been killed.
The formal investigations must now take place and no-one should jump to conclusions but there would rightly be major concerns if the blast happened because the HSE recommended safety measures were not put in place by the owners of the plant long ago.
And unfortunately there is some troubling history.
My client suffered asevere head injury also at a wood processing plant owned by the Boden Group this time near Westhoughton. Several months before my client’s accident, the Boden Group were advised to make sure that all drivers wore safety harnesses when they were working on top of their loads (as they had to from time to time).
The Company did not follow that advice and so there was nothing to protect my client when he fell. The Boden Group were subsequently prosecuted by the HSE and fined £8,000.
And then, just a few weeks after my client’s fall, another driver of the Boden Group suffered a fall from his trailer and fractured his arm and wrist.
The location was the Wood Treatment plant at Bosley. As a result, the HSE served Charles Boden with a Notice of Contravention of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
A tragedy that should have been avoided? We will see.