£180,000 fine after steelworker "almost dies" in Rotherham furnace explosion

The 49-year-old furnace operative, who has asked not to be named, suffered life-threatening injuries and needed plastic surgery after the incident at Tata Speciality Steels’ premises in Aldwarke Lane.

The worker, from Rotherham, was injured after a control system fault caused 25 tons of molten metal to spill from a furnace in March 2012.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that following the usual practice, the worker and a colleague began to hose water onto the spilled metal to cool it down.

Soon after the water made contact, there was a huge explosion and the worker was covered in molten metal.

He staggered to safety where colleagues rushed to his aid and applied a burn shield before he was taken to hospital. Two other employees received minor injuries.

The man, who had worked at Tata and its predecessor since 1979, was in intensive care in a specialist burns unit at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, and in an induced coma for three weeks, the court heard.

He needed numerous skin grafts and reconstructive surgery to his eyes, ears and forehead.

The worker has since managed to return to work but can no longer work in any high-temperature area.

The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted Tata Steel UK Ltd for safety breaches.

The court heard that a few weeks prior to the incident a fire had damaged the furnace control system, which required a temporary fix until new parts were fitted.

On the day of the incident an electrician was asked to remove the workaround as it was thought that the fault had been fixed.

Leading up to the explosion, molten metal was being poured from the furnace into a ladle underneath for the first time since the removal of the temporary fix.

As the molten metal poured an alarm activated, locking the furnace into position.

A furnace worker tried the emergency return, which should have returned the furnace and stopped the molten metal discharging, but this failed.

The furnace continued to discharge a further 25 tons of molten metal into a pit below after the ladle had moved away.

The HSE identified serious safety failings by Tata in recognising and dealing with risks that led to workers being exposed to unnecessary danger.

It also found Tata had no procedures for dealing with spillages of molten metal, no assessment of the dangers and risks had been carried out and there was no safe system of work in place.

It had become normal practice for workers to hose water onto spills, the court heard, even though molten metal will explode if water penetrates the surface.

Tata Steel UK, was fined a total of £180,000 and ordered to pay £82,979.26 in costs after admitting two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

HSE inspector Denise Fotheringham said after last Tuesday’s hearing: “This was a horrific incident that left a worker with life-changing injuries, which have had a devastating impact on him and his family.

“The explosion was massive and a man nearly lost his life.

“Tragically, it could have been avoided had Tata assessed the risks of dealing with molten metal spillages.

“Tata no longer uses water to cool spillages and the risk has been eliminated.

“If the company had done this prior to the incident, this worker and his family would not be where they are today.”