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Five companies have been ordered to pay £10 million in fines for safety violations that led to an oil depot explosion that measured 2.4 on the Richter scale in 2005.
Energy Firm Total UK was fined £6.2 million after admitting failing to protect workers and the public. Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited was fined £2.45 million after being found guilty of failing to prevent a major accident and British Pipeline Agency were ordered to pay £780,000 for the same offence.
Although there were no fatalities following the blast, it caused millions of pounds worth of damage to the local area. The explosion was caused when 250,000 litres of petrol spilled from a storage tank and caught fire, which safety alarms failed to operate.
Mr. Justice David Calvert-Smith sentencing at St. Albans Crown Court said ‘had the explosion happened during a working day, when large numbers of people would have been at premises close to the site, whether outside or inside, the loss of life may have been measured in tens or even hundreds’. He went on to say that the fact that the explosion occurred at 6.01 on a Sunday morning was ‘little short of miraculous’.
However, many have criticised the level of fines, drawing the comparison that Total’s fine is only 0.003 per cent of its profits for the first quarter of this year.
Cases like this illustrate the importance of health and safety for businesses and show how seriously it should be taken.
Although there were no fatalities following the blast, it caused millions of pounds worth of damage to the local area. The explosion was caused when 250,000 litres of petrol spilled from a storage tank and caught fire, which safety alarms failed to operate.
Mr. Justice David Calvert-Smith sentencing at St. Albans Crown Court said ‘had the explosion happened during a working day, when large numbers of people would have been at premises close to the site, whether outside or inside, the loss of life may have been measured in tens or even hundreds’. He went on to say that the fact that the explosion occurred at 6.01 on a Sunday morning was ‘little short of miraculous’.
However, many have criticised the level of fines, drawing the comparison that Total’s fine is only 0.003 per cent of its profits for the first quarter of this year.
Cases like this illustrate the importance of health and safety for businesses and show how seriously it should be taken.
