Worker died after being sprayed with molten metal

Forfar Sheriff Court heard that on 17 September 2014 a 26-year-old employee of Gemini Corrosion Services Limited, Andrew Fraser, came into contact with a rotating pipe being spray-coated with aluminium by a Thermal Spray Application (TSA) machine (used to spray a coating onto steel drill pipes used in the oil industry) at the company’s site and subsequently lost his life due to the severity of his injuries.

The court was told that Gemini Corrosion Services failed to ensure that the Thermal Spray Aluminium machine was adequately guarded or that other suitable and sufficient measures were in place to prevent access by any worker to any dangerous parts of machinery.

Gemini Corrosion Services Limited, Montrose, Angus pleaded guilty to breaching Section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulations 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £120,000, reduced from £180,000 in light of the guilty plea, at Forfar Sheriff Court.