Scrap metal processing company Frank Barnes (Darwen) Ltd has been fined £30,000 for health and safety failings, after being found guilty of exposing employees to lead fumes and dust.

Last Monday (20 October), Preston Crown Court heard that the company had consistently failed to protect its workers from lead poisoning, despite repeated instructions from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Worker had ‘seven times the normal amount of lead’ in his blood

According to the prosecutors, in 2009, the company had been contracted to dismantle metal structures and machinery by a lead battery manufacturer.

This involved work at the battery factory in Over Hulton, Bolton as well as at Frank Barnes’ sites at Albert and Hope Mills in Darwen, Lancashire.

The owners of the battery firm had provided an induction on working with lead, and regularly monitored each employee for exposure.

However, on 24 November 2009, a 48-year-old employee was found to have high levels of lead in his blood and was suspended from working with lead at the battery factory, as is required by law.

Although the owner of the company, Frank Barnes, was told the employee should not continue to work with lead materials, this advice was ignored. The warning was repeated again in January 2010, when another blood test revealed the lead level in the employee’s blood was still high, but this was again ignored.

In February 2010, a doctor treating another employee for early stage lead poisoning (which can include symptoms such as headaches, tiredness, nausea and stomach pains) contacted HSE about his concerns. An HSE medical inspector then told the firm that workers should be taken off working with lead until their blood levels had reduced.

Despite this, no action was taken and employees continued to be exposed to lead fumes and dust, leading to the 48-year-old employee being admitted to hospital later that month.

Once admitted, blood tests revealed he had seven times the normal amount of lead in his body, putting him at risk of nerve, brain and kidney damage, and infertility.

Further to this, when HSE visited the site in March 2010 they found that two other workers who should have been suspended from lead work, had been allowed to continue working with lead-containing materials and had not been given suitable protective equipment.

As such, the court fined Frank Barnes (Darwen) Ltd £30,000 for breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The company was also ordered to pay £29,639.65 in prosecution costs.

‘One of the worst cases I have dealt with’

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Michael Mullen, said: “This is one of the worst cases I have dealt with as an inspector. Frank Barnes (Darwen) Ltd consistently failed to respond to clear advice concerning employees with high levels of lead in their blood and these employees continued to be exposed to lead fumes.

“Workers were not warned about the risks they faced, nor given suitable protective masks or clothing.

“The scrap metal company had a duty to adequately assess and manage the risk of exposure of its employees to lead. However there was no assessment and no effective controls in place in relation to the work.

“This case should act as a clear warning to others who fail to heed health and safety laws that they could find themselves in court.”

Waste sector ‘one of the most dangerous’

Injuries and deaths in the waste sector are not uncommon, in January Devon-based recycling company was fined £33,000 for safety failings after an employee suffered ‘life-threatening injuries’ following an incident at a recycling centre in Exeter.

HSE has previously branded the industry as ‘one of the most dangerous’ sectors to work in after it found 10 workers and three members of the public suffered fatal injuries in the waste and recycling sector in 2012/13, compared with an average of six deaths in the past five years.

To reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured in the waste and recycling industry, HSE has published the ‘Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) blueprint 2012-15’, which outlines 24 ‘immediate action points’ that companies dealing with waste and recycling need to take to provide clearer training and safer workplaces.

Find out more about the WISH blueprint and managing the risks of lead poisoning.