Huddersfield recycling workers exposed to mercury fumes

10 February 2010

EXPOSURE of workers to toxic mercury fumes at a Huddersfield recycling plant has led to a Glasgow-based firm and its director being fined £145,000.

Employees of Electrical Waste Recycling Group were poisoned when ventilation systems failed at the recycling plant. One of the workers, who was pregnant at the time, became concerned that her unborn baby was at risk.

The firm recycles waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) including fluorescent light tubes that contain mercury, as well as television sets and monitors that contain lead.

On 5th February, Bradford Crown Court heard that 20 workers had levels of mercury in their system “above UK guidance levels”. Five employees had registered “extremely high levels” after the exposure to the fumes which took place between October 2007 and August 2008.

Electrical Waste Recycling Group pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations and the Control of Lead at Work Regulations.

It was fined £140,000 and ordered to pay £35,127 in costs.

Company director Craig Thompson was fined £5,000 after pleading guilty to breaching a regulation of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.

After the hearing, Health and Safety Executive inspector Jeanne Morton said: “This is a shocking case involving a large number of employees, many of them young and vulnerable, who were suddenly faced with the worrying possibility of damage to their long-term health.

“The risks associated with handling toxic substances like mercury have been known for generations, so it is all the more unacceptable that something like this has happened.

“The company failed to see the risks created by their recycling work and failed to develop effective plans for safe working. They also did nothing to check their workers’ health after exposure.

“Workers have a right to expect a reasonable level of protection in the workplace, and employers have a legal duty to provide it.”

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