Company fined £350,000 following collapse of chemical tank

A company has been fined £350,000 following the collapse of a chemical tank which left a worker with life-changing injuries.

The self-employed worker was on-site conducting surveys of storage tanks when one tank, holding 480,776 litres of calcium chloride solution weighing c.700 tonnes, ruptured without warning.

The worker became immersed in the chemical solution and sustained life-changing injuries, including multiple fractures, a lacerated liver, and extensive chemical burns requiring skin grafts.

The tank was over 30 years old, and the company was unable to evidence any regular inspection regimes. The HSE found that the tank’s failure was foreseeable and preventable.

The company pleaded guilty to breaches under sections 3(1) and 33(1)(A) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £350,000.