Firm fined nearly £1m after plant worker struck by falling metal

The incident happened during refurbishment work at the Mossmorran petrochemical plant

An engineering firm has been fined nearly £1m after a worker was badly injured during work on a furnace at the Mossmorran petrochemical plant in Fife.

Experience rigger Darren Spagnoletta, 47, suffered serious head injuries when a 130kg (287lb) metal coil fell to the ground and struck him during refurbishment work in 2021.

The coil was meant to be secured by a sling and lowered gently but it had been misidentified, and instead plummeted to where Mr Spagnoletta was working.

Contractors Altrad Babcock admitted health and safety breaches by failing to carry out an adequate risk assessment after being forced to change their plans for the operation.

The firm was fined £900,000 plus a £67,500 victim surcharge, used to support victims of crime, at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

The engineering services firm, which at the time was known as Doosan Babcock Ltd, had been contracted to refurbish a furnace called KF05 at the ExxonMobil's Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant, near Cowdenbeath.

The work involved removing metal coils, known as "pencils", that lined the firebox by cutting them into sections, up to 7m (23ft) long, and lowering them to the ground.

Normally the coils would be secured using a piece of equipment called a Niko rail, but when the nightshift arrived on 20 July 2021 this machinery was unavailable.

The team adopted a new method of securing the metal coil sections using slings and chain blocks - but this meant the pencils were cut out of sequence and the change of working was not properly risk-assessed.

Shortly after midnight, a 7.63m (25ft) section of coil which had not been secured with a sling was cut by mistake and fell to the floor of the firebox where Mr Spagnoletta was working.

He was struck on the back and head, causing three skull fractures and severe cuts which required 15 stitches and six staples.

His shoulder was also broken and he was off work for 15 months. He has now left the company where he had worked for 24 years.

A Health and Safety Executive investigation found that prior to the change of working method there had been a risk assessment - but it did not adequately address the risks associated with lowering the heavy metal coils.

Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said it was a serious incident which could have been avoided if Mr Spagnoletta's employer had properly reviewed the risks.

She said: "Altrad Babcock's failure to carry out a risk assessment after a late changed to the system of work left workers to devise their own method.

"Hopefully this prosecution will remind other employers that failure to fulfil their obligations can have serious consequences and that they will be held to account for their failings."

Altrad Babcock has been contacted for comment.