Troubled
steel company Corus has been hit with a record fine following an explosion at
its Llanwern plant in South Wales last year.
After
a prosecution by the HSE, the firm has been hit with a £300,000 fine plus
costs, the largest penalty ever imposed on a manufacturer under health and
safety law.
One
employee was left with a fractured spine after the incident last September,
when an explosion rocked the basic oxgensteel plant. The contractor had fallen
from his ladder following the explosion which happened because of slag spilling
on to the floor and coming into contact with water.
Judge
Hickinbottom told Cardiff Crown Court that despite the dangerous nature of
steel manufacturing, a regulatory scheme was in place to minimise the risk but
that Corus had not adhered to it. The judge also criticised Corus for failing to
heed warnings from employees, contractors and the HSE about necessary repairs.
The
news comes as the death toll for the explosion at the Port Talbot plant earlier
this month rose to three.
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