Pirelli Tyres has been fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £46,706 in costs having pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Pirelli was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a worker died in tragic circumstances.
George Falder was working inside an autoclave used to heat rubber tyre beads. Whilst inside, a colleague shut the door of the autoclave and began operating the cycle with Mr Falder inside. Unfortunately, the door could not be opened from inside and there was no way for anyone inside the machine to stop the process. Whilst in operation, steam would be piped into the autoclave at pressure, creating an atmosphere with little or no oxygen. Conditions could have reached up to 145 degrees Celsius.
A subsequent HSE investigation found that Pirelli had no system in place to make sure the autoclave was checked before it was turned on. In addition, although employees did, on occasion, enter the autoclave to pick up fallen rubber tyre beads, it had not been identified as a confined space. This meant no measures were in place to prevent access to the autoclave.
HSE inspector Michael Griffiths said, "George Falder’s tragic death has had a devastating impact on his family and friends. His colleague had no way of knowing anyone was inside when he switched on the machine because the company did not have systems in place to stop this from happening.
"Pirelli failed to identify the risk posed by workers entering the autoclave. They should either have prevented access, or made sure that the autoclave was properly checked each time before the door was closed and the operating cycle started. If either of these policies had been implemented then Mr Falder’s death might have been avoided."
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