Chemicals firm fined following explosion
A solvents manufacturer has been fined following an explosion at its factory in the Scottish Borders.
The blast at Rathburn Chemicals in Walkerburn on 10 January 2020 resulted in a laboratory, which was part of the factory, being demolished.
It was likely caused by excessive pentane vapour, generated by the company’s distillation process, overheating and being ignited by the site’s extraction system.
No one was injured by the explosion.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Rathburn Chemicals had an inadequate system in place which failed to control the amount of steam and heat being generated during its distillation process. The company also failed to adequately detect any signs of overheating which could lead to flammable vapour being ignited.
Read more on the HSE website.
Amazon boss brings end to remote working
Online giant Amazon has told all its staff to get back to the office five days a week and cancelled routine remote working.
Just one month ahead of a new employment rights bill in the UK – which will see flexible working as a default for anyone starting a new job – Amazon has ended its hybrid work policy, which currently allows staff to work from home two days a week.
The firm only introduced remote working due to restrictions during the Covid 19 pandemic and the change to 100% in office will come into effect from January.
For more on the announcement visit the SHP website.
McDonald’s and supermarkets failed to spot slavery
Signs that modern slavery victims were being forced to work at a McDonald’s branch and a factory supplying bread products to major supermarkets were missed for years, the BBC has found.
A gang forced 16 victims to work at either the fast-food restaurant or the factory – which supplied Asda, Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
Well-established signs of slavery, including paying the wages of four men into one bank account, were missed while the victims from the Czech Republic were exploited over more than four years.
McDonald’s UK said it had improved systems for spotting “potential risks”, while the British Retail Consortium said its members would learn from the case.
Visit the BBC website to learn more.
Grandad dies after fall through unguarded hole
A grandfather died after falling through a hole in his own bathroom that had been left by workers.
Kenneth Armitage landed on the kitchen floor below, in an incident his daughter Suzy said “should never have happened.”
The bathroom in Mr Armitage’s house on Whitestone Drive in Huntington, York had been getting converted into a wet room by the construction company Cooper and Westgate.
The company had removed the room’s floorboards as it accessed pipework, but left an unguarded hole in the floor on 8 February 2019.
The 81-year-old later fell through the hole and was found dead by his son-in-law the following evening on 9 February.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Cooper and Westgate failed to adequately secure the hole as its employees were not properly trained. The company had also failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, nor a method statement for the work involved.
Read more about the incident on the HSM website.
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