A steel company has been prosecuted after a worker was severely burned by an oxygen pipe which exploded in front of him.

Sheffield Forgemasters Engineering Limited of Brightside Lane, Sheffield pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £1 million with more than £58,000 in costs.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that work was being carried out by an in-house contractor to fit a valve to an oxygen pipe that carried pure oxygen.

The 57-year-old victim was carrying out checks when he heard hissing from the valve. While investigating the noise, the pipe and valve erupted in flames.


The man suffered severe third degree burns as a result of the incident. He was kept in a coma for several weeks and underwent several skin grafts.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the oxygen pipe had been fitted with contaminated second-hand flanges and butterfly valve, containing materials unsuitable for use with oxygen. It was foreseeable that work would at some point be undertaken on the oxygen pipelines that ran across the entire site, yet no action had been taken to take control of this line or to implement training or levels of responsibility for management of such work.

HSE inspector Carol Downes said: "This incident could have been avoided if simple checks had been carried out.

"Duty holders should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the require standard."

(LM)