Thursday, April 16, 2015

RAYTHEON AND C&F ELECTRICAL SERVICES DEFENSE CONTRACTORS PLEADED GUILTY AND FINED AFTER WORKERS BADLY INJURED. THE FIRMS WANTED TO "CUT COSTS AT THE EXPENSE OF SAFETY" (THAT IS TYPICAL OF MOST COMPANIES).





THURSDAY, 16 APRIL 2015 

A global defence contractor has been fined £24,000 after two workers suffered horrific injuries in an accident at a Scots plant that builds laser guidance systems for missiles.

Steven Delargey and Russell Brand were carrying out out non-essential work at Raytheon Systems Ltd's Glenrothes plant in Fife.

The pair's employers C&F Electrical Services were fined £20,000.
They tried to replace capacitors while a high voltage electrical system was live because Raytheon did not want to interrupt production at the factory.

The pair suffered horrific injuries in the accident, with prosecutors stating the firm wanted to "cut costs at the expense of safety".

It happened after one of the capacitors they were removing came into contact with a pair of live busbars, causing an electrical flashover that severely burned them on the face, neck and arms.

Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard Mr Brand and Mr Delargey both had to be admitted to intensive care units for four days.

Mr Delargey suffered 10 per cent full thickness burns and was off work for almost a year and has been left with permanent scarring to his neck and face.

Raytheon build laser-guidance systems for missiles at the factory.

A Health and Safety Executive probe found that the work should not have gone ahead with the distribution board live and that the job was "not reasonable".

They found there was "no urgency" for the capacitors to be replaeced as they had been switched off for some time - and that the only effect of delaying the work would have been increased energy bills and issues meeting Carbon Trust emissions standards.

The court was told that "cost cutting at the expense of safety" was an "aggravating factor" in the case and that the risks were "entirely foreseeable".

Raytheon and C&F Electrical Services pleaded guilty to two charges on indictment under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.

Source: http://www.heraldscotland.com