Firm fined over mercury exposureA recycling company that exposed its workers to toxic mercury fumes at a Huddersfield plant has been fined £140,000.
Around 20 workers at Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd (EWR), based in Glasgow, were exposed to the toxic element between October 2007 and August 2008 and had mercury in their blood above UK guidance levels, five of them showing very high levels.
The former Matrix Direct Recycle Ltd recycles electrical equipment, including fluorescent light tubes containing mercury and TV sets and monitors containing lead.
Ventilation problems at a unit on School Lane, Kirkheaton, indicated that workers were facing exposure to potentially harmful emissions from both substances, Bradford Crown Court was told.
The court ordered EWR to pay £140,000 as a fine and £35,127 in costs after the firm pleaded guilty to violating Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, three separate breaches of substance regulation, and a lead regulation violation.
The company's director, 38-year-old Craig Thompson, was fined £5,000 after pleading guilty to infringement of Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.
Health and Safety Executive Inspector Jeanne Morton said: "The company failed to see the risks created by their recycling work and failed to develop effective plans for safe working."
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