AWE Aldermaston fined more than £200k for safety breaches

AWE Plc was ordered byfined for significant failings relating to its use and control of explosive materials after a worker was injured when a fire broke out in an explosives processing building.
Ashley Emery, 29, from Basingstoke, burnt his left arm and face in the incident at the company’s Aldermaston base in Berkshire on August 3, 2010.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the fire and established that had AWE recognised all the hazards of the chemicals Mr Emery was working with, and implemented appropriate safeguards, then the incident could have been avoided.
AWE was fined £200,000, ordered to pay £80,258 in costs, plus £2,500 in compensation to Mr Emery after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
After sentencing HSE inspector Dave Norman said: "The fire could have caused multiple casualties and it was entirely preventable had better control systems been in place.
“This collection of shortcomings demonstrates that there were failures of supervision, monitoring and auditing over time, including in relation to the conducting, validating and approval of risk assessments.
“Companies working with hazardous substances must take extreme care at all times and in all aspects of their operations.”
See Thursday8s Newbury Weekly News for the judge's comments and more on this story.