A company responsible for a fatal gas explosion has been fined a paltry £2 after being convicted of breaching health and safety law.
A factory worker was killed and three others received serious burns when liquid petroleum gas exploded at North West Aerosols Ltd in Aintree in 2005. Afterward, company directors put the firm into voluntary liquidation.
The judge at Liverpool Crown Court said he had taken the company's financial position into account when imposing the fine. The judge commented that if the company had been making a profit, he would have fined it at least £250,000.
However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said money was not the issue, since it was more important to send the message out to other aerosol companies of the need to adopt good working practices.
Keith Morris from the HSE said it was a very tragic case and that, "HSE investigations concluded the company had not adopted good industry practice for the change-over of propellants, and had not provided self-sealing quick release coupling or flame retardant clothing for all the maintenance staff."
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