Bath restoration firm punished for toxic fumes death

Drager CPS 5900

A bath restoration firm has been punished for gas detection and ventilation failings which led to the death of a worker.

The employer of a man who died through toxic gas exposure has been fined after admitting to failing to provide the correct safety equipment, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has revealed.

Multicrest - a franchisee of Renubath Services - knew that the stripping agent contained carcinogenic toxic chemical dichloromethane, which is also known as methylene chloride, and that it should only be used in a well ventilated area.

Despite this, the late Colin Pocock, 55, was asked to use the industrial paint and varnish remover at a housing association property in Wandsworth's Eton Close in June 2009.

Due to a lack of sufficient ventilation or breathing apparatus, Mr Pocock was quickly overcome by the fumes and died at the scene, with his body being discovered by the flat's occupier.

Types of safety equipment which can be used when being exposed to dichloromethane (methylene chloride) include gas detection tubes and also chemical protective suits

The Frontline Safety website features a wide range of gas detection tubes and also the CPS 5900 protective suit from Drager which protects against dichloromethane for a period of time.

For more information on these suits, which are also available from MSA, please contact [email protected].

Multicrest admitted to Southward Crown Court that it had breached section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was ordered to pay £25,000 in fines and £56, 286 in costs as a result.

Furthermore, Renubath Services had earlier been fined heavily by Westminster Crown Court for identical failings and is now in liquidation.

HSE inspector Steve Kirton said: "This is a shocking death resulting from totally inadequate ventilation in the enclosed bathroom space in which Colin Pocock had to operate.

"The risks associated with stripping agents containing dichloromethane are well known, yet he was exposed to lethal fumes with virtually no protection. Mechanical ventilation equipment is often a necessity, but all he had to rely on was a small open window, a basic mask and pot luck.

Meanwhile, a mother and daughter who died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on a boating holiday on Lake Windermere may have avoided their tragic end had the vessel's gas detection equipment been plugged in to a power supply.

Posted by Dawn Mitchell