A company which produces electricity from food waste by anaerobic digestion, has been fined more than £300,000 after an explosion caused two employees to suffer life changing injuries.
The metal tank the two men were working on was projected high into the air before crashing to the ground nine seconds later.
The court hearing ends a seven-year complex investigation by the Environment Agency alongside the Health and Safety Executive.
Footage of the blast has been released.
On 20 September 2017, two employees of Bio Dynamic (UK) Limited were using a grinder to cut and replace pipework.
The men were at the top of an 11-metre high metal tank containing waste slurry. They were not using harnesses. Sparks from the grinder ignited flammable gasses causing the tank to explode.
Tomasz Patek was flung out of the mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) into the air and landed on the ground in the slurry around the tank. He suffered serious injuries to his back, head and torso and was in hospital for two months. His injuries were so severe that he was not able to work for more than two years.
Robert Tyrko was thrown into the air and landed back in the basket of the MEWP. Following the incident, Robert’s leg was amputated and he remains wheelchair bound as treatment is still ongoing to receive a prosthesis. Also, he sustained a fractured skull and a piece of metal in his elbow that continues to affect his daily life.
A joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency found that the company had failed to ensure the health and safety of its employees and others nearby.
The company had kept and treated waste in a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment. The explosion was caused by multiple failures in the company’s management system and exacerbated by multiple breaches of the company’s environmental permit.
At a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on 22 November 2024, Bio Dynamic (UK) Limited, of Colwick Industrial Estate, Nottingham:
- pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
- pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 38(2) of the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR), and s.33(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA).
- were fined a total of £304,500 and ordered to pay £229,988 in costs.
