A company has been prosecuted after a worker was hospitalised due to being exposed to carbon monoxide.

Westlands Construction Ltd, Sproatley, Hull pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £16,000 with over £847 in costs.

Hull Magistrates Court heard how workers for the firm were using a petrol powered saw to cut out an existing concrete floor at a fish factory in Hull in October 2015.

To protect the food factory's surfaces from dust, the workers built a sealed enclosure from timber an polythene. However, while working inside the area over a weekend, the space was not ventilated and there was a build-up of carbon monoxide, which lead to one worker being taken to hospital.

-- Advertisement --

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the company had not planned the work or thought through the dangers an un-ventilated tent would cause. HSE said the company should have used a system of dust suppression and local exhaust ventilation (LEV), together with appropriate respiratory protective equipment, to prevent or reduce exposure to harmful dust.

HSE inspector Jennifer Elsegood said: "Petrol driven saws should not be used in a confined space because of the risk of carbon monoxide exposure.

"Carbon monoxide is extremely dangerous it has no smell and workers can be overcome by the fumes before they realise they have been effected – making it extremely dangerous. This is why it is known as the silent killer."

(LM/MH)