A worker sustained serious injuries at the Shrivenham Campus of Cranfield University after one of the bomblets he was dismantling exploded. Three employees from the Explosives Research Section at the Defence Academy were working to deactivate former military cluster bomblets so they could be recovered for use in demonstrations.
The employee suffered potentially life-threatening abdominal injuries along with lacerations to his face and shoulder and nerve damage to his right hand.
On investigation it was found that there was no suitable risk assessment for this type of activity and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) therefore found the system of work to be unsafe.
HSE investigating Inspector Evan Bale commented: ''The worker’s injuries were life threatening and could have been avoided had a thorough assessment of the risks been carried out. As the university admitted, the task should not have been carried out in this manner. This case reinforces the fact that employers need to ensure all activities, especially those that are novel or only undertaken infrequently, have been properly assessed as to the associated hazards and risks, and that safe systems of work are in place to effectively control those risks. Cranfield University is properly recognised internationally for its explosives research and teaching, but in this particular case the standards for managing safety fell far short of what should have been in place.''
The University pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulation SI 2005/1082. Swindon Crown Court fined Cranfield University £80,000 along with costs of £75,000.
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