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Y orkshire Water has been ned £733,000 a er a tter su ered fatal burns when his clothing was ignited by sparks. Leeds Crown Court heard that, on 20 July 2015, Michael Jennings was working in the bottom of a dry well, a designated con ned space, on the end of the disused Lane 1 of the brewery trade waste treatment plant at the Tadcaster Sewage Treatment Works. The adjoining Lane 2 was still in service. The brewery trade waste plant was the only Yorkshire Water e† uent treatment plant to use oxygen gas injection to assist the clean-up process. Mr Jennings and a colleague had been tasked with changing the stop valve on the end of the disused Lane 1 drain pipe that emerged into the bottom of the dry well. Yorkshire Water ned £733K over tter's death Mr Jennings was using an angle grinder to cut through corroded bolts when sparks from the grinding wheel reached his overalls, bursting into ‰ ames. He su ered whole body burns and died in Pinder elds Hospital two days later. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the drain valve was half- opened and the atmosphere within the dry well was oxygen- enriched, greatly increasing the risk of re. It also found that a near-miss report had been recorded at the same location in September 2014. Employees had found the interior of Lane 1 to be heavily oxygen- enriched and had alerted local managers to the problem. Following this near miss, the company did carry out an investigation but reached the wrong conclusion that the oxygen enrichment was due to residual oxygen and that the issue had been resolved. This had implications for future work in that the company proceeded on the basis there was no further risk of oxygen – HSE inspector describes incident at Tadcaster Sewage Treatment Works as 'wholly avoidable' How Twitter reacted to the EFRA Select Committee's report on the regulation of the water industry. A 24-year-old man who was working for one of Northern Ireland Water's contractors was killed after being struck by a tree during Storm Ali. Matt Campbell, who worked as an electrician for Lagan Construction Limited, was struck by the tree at a water p umping station at Slieve Gullion Forest Park, County Armagh, on 19 September as the storm brought winds in excess of 91mph to Northern Ireland. Another Lagan Construction employee in his 40s was injured in the same incident and taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital. Lagan Construction said: "We are deeply saddened to confirm that one of our employees has passed away as a result of their injuries and that another employee has been seriously injured. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the two families at this time. We are offering support and counselling services to colleagues and we continue to work closely with the statutory authorities." NI Water CEO Sara Venning said: "Our deepest sympathy goes out to the family and friends of this young man. "This was a tragic incident and NI Water will continue to work with the statutory authorities and the contractor as they carry out their investigations." We strongly support calls in @CommonsEFRA report for more ambition on leakage from #water companies. With 1200 Olympic- sized pools worth leaked every day water companies must commit to halving leakage by 2040 @WCL_News Interesting report. DEFRA considering backing proposals for national #watermeters - Our ease of access to potable water has decreased our appreciation of #water being ˆ nite resource. Compromise: an opt in metering scheme? #water #watermanagement @AdamJoelKinnear In its Regulation of the #Water Industry report @CommonsEFRA says #leakage reduction should be top priority, halved by 2040 (10 years sooner than 2050 @NatInfraCom target). The pressure is on! @al_chisholm etc. Act 1974 and was ned £733,000 and costs of £18,818. Speaking a er the hearing, Health and Safety Executive inspector John Micklethwaite said: "This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the company to implement an adequate and e ective safe system of work for work in a con ned space. "Those in control of work activities have a duty to identify hazards that could arise, to eliminate or to mitigate them, and to devise suitable safe systems of work. The risk assessment process is central to this role. Yorkshire Water chief executive Richard Flint said: "The tragic events of 20 July 2015 have had a profound e ect on all of us at Yorkshire Water. Whilst we cannot change what happened to Mick, we must ensure this terrible accident leaves a permanent legacy on the business and that we do everything possible to prevent something like this happening again." wwtonline.co.uk | NOVEMBER 2018 WET NEWS 3 Contractor working for NI Water dies during Storm Ali enrichment within Lane 1. The HSE investigation showed that the company's risk assessment and permit to work procedures had been inadequate. There were no site-speci c procedures in place and the generic risk assessment template form did not include oxygen enrichment as a possible hazard. The employees working on the day of the incident were not familiar with the site and they were not aware of the September 2014 near miss. This meant that they did not have the knowledge or experience to recognise that oxygen- enrichment of the dry well was a potential hazard when the valve was taken o or opened. Yorkshire Water pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Water meters should be compulsory, say MPs. I'm not holding my breath, but this looks like some positive news for the environment and a more eš cient water sector. @Artesiaconsult WET News is registered at Stationers' Hall. Origination by Faversham House and TR Clash Ltd. Printed by Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6AE. Copyright 2018. Faversham House. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publishers. Every e¢ ort is made to ensure the accuracy of material published in WET News. However, Faversham House will not be liable for any inaccuracies. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the editor or publishers. The text and cover paper are manufactured from certiˆ ed sustainable sources and are produced with reduced environmental impacts via a recognised and independently audited management scheme. 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