Food Safety News – May 2011
Man dies after drinking dishwasher fluid
In the past couple of weeks East Sussex County Council have been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive and fined for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after a man with Down’s syndrome who was in their care died. It is believed his death was related to injuries sustained after drinking the highly corrosive chemical; sodium hydroxide.
Colin Woods, 60, who had learning difficulties, along with five other adults suffered horrendous injuries after drinking what they believed to be orange squash on a day trip arranged by the council in December 2004. Mr Woods died on the 5th April 2006 – 17 months after the initial incident. Other members of the groups suffered burns to their mouth, throat and stomach and have had to have repeated surgery since. Some victims are still unable to swallow normally.
Although clearly marked as corrosive, the dishwasher fluid was stored in a container very similar to that used for holding the orange squash. It had been left unguarded and unsupervised in an area of the day centre which was accessible by anyone. It is unclear who mixed the drink as the surviving victims were considered too traumatised to explain the situation.
Lewes Crown Court heard that the victims immediately became distressed, started vomiting blood and began fitting after swallowing the chemical.
The HSE investigation found the council had failed to ensure the dishwasher fluid was safely locked away. It admitted leaving the liquid out in the unlocked kitchen of the day centre.
HSE inspector, Andrew Cousins, said:
"This is one of the worst incidents I have investigated in all my time as a health and safety inspector - it is impossible to adequately imagine the suffering and terror that the victims must have felt as this tragedy unfolded.
"The terrible thing is that this incident and its horrific consequences could so easily have been prevented by simply locking away the container of sodium hydroxide.
"Instead, Mr Woods died a slow, painful and unnecessary death and others have suffered terrible, preventable injuries - some painful and permanent - because the council failed in its responsibility to take proper care of them. It is imperative that authorities properly protect vulnerable people in their care."
East Sussex County Council, of County Hall, St Anne's Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex, pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Today, the council was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £27,670.
Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
Employers have a legal duty to assess the hazards to their employees and others under their care. Employers should take a structured approach to introducing control measures such as asking if the hazard is necessary at all? If so, could the level of risk be reduced?
This case should act as a reminder to all of us, that vulnerable people, whether young, old or with special needs should be realistically considered when controls are being introduced. Critics of Health and Safety often claim that it is common sense and that we are sometimes too overprotective. When simple controls such as locking away hazardous chemicals in an environment of vulnerable adults has been missed and leads to such disastrous consequences then we should all review our procedures to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
Our in-house Health and Safety Experts can give you the support needed to avoid such incidents. Please contact principals@hygieneuauditsystems.com
