Process safety – COMAH Fine of £400,000

Process Safety issues (such as major gas releases or the loss of containment of highly flammable liquids) can create significant risks to health, safety, and to the environment. Refer also to our recent Process Safety blog. Following a substantial release of flammable butane gas from its plant, Total Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR) has been fined £400,000.

The Magistrates’ Court in Grimsby was told that the leak happened during a planned maintenance shutdown that takes place every four years. One of the planned tasks during the shutdown (that involves processing units, pipework, vents and drains) was the connection of a new 1 km-long butane line between two of the processing units.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the contractor who connected the pipework had not checked the whole line to ensure it had been properly installed and all the valves were closed. Further to this, the pipework should also have been pressure tested before flammable substances were introduced, the HSE said. As a result, a high-point vent was left open and about 50 tonnes of butane leaked over a period of nearly four hours (in March 2016).

At the time of the incident, there were about 1,200 contract workers on site in addition to more than 500 Total LOR employees. No health issues were reported.

Total LOR pleaded guilty on 1 February to breaching reg 4(1) of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 for failing to take necessary precautions to prevent a major accident that could impact people and the environment. It was fined £400,000 plus £15,975 costs on 22 February.

Total UK had previously been fined £1.4m in July 2015 after a contract worker was killed in a major fire that broke out at the Lindsey Oil Refinery in 2010.

Process safety failures can lead to substantial risks to people, plant, and to the environment. Each of these areas can compromise the long-term future of the organisation.