Firm fined for explosion that killed worker

A PHARMACEUTICAL company has been fined €300,000 and ordered to pay €72,000 in costs for breaches of health-and-safety regulations following an explosion at its plant that claimed the life of one of its employees and seriously injured another.

Corden Pharma Ltd, trading as Corden Pharmachem Ltd, with registered offices at South Mall, Cork, had pleaded guilty to the four breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 following the explosion at its plant at Little Island, Co Cork, on April 28th, 2008.

Father-of-one Liam Nodwell (58), from Glanmire on the outskirts of Cork city, was fatally injured and his workmate Jimmy O’Sullivan seriously injured in the chemical explosion, which happened in a process reactor on the 20-acre site.

Yesterday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Patrick Moran said the death of Mr Nodwell and the injury to Mr O’Sullivan were aggravating factors, as were two previous convictions for breaches of health-and-safety legislation just a month before the explosion.

The court had previously heard that the fatal accident occurred when Mr Nodwell failed to add acetone to a mixing process, and a previous incident, on March 7th, 2008, occurred when acetone was similarly omitted from a mixing process, leading to an explosion.

Judge Moran noted Corden Pharma had previous experience of such an incident just over a month earlier, for which they were convicted and fined.

“I take the view that there is a high standard of care required of people involved in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals,” said Judge Moran, noting that pharmachem companies must be vigilant at all times.

He noted that Health and Safety Authority inspector Michael Boylan had said the accident could have been avoided if there had been an operator present to check the procedure was properly complied with or if electronic monitoring equipment had been fitted to ensure process instructions were followed.

Assessing the company’s ability to pay a fine, he noted that Corden Pharma was part of an international group with headquarters in Luxembourg and he believed the company was in a position to pay a financial penalty.

Corden had also received €15 million in an insurance payout for the accident and had used some of this to pay redundancy to staff laid off in the closure, while it had also put the site of the plant up for sale, with a valuation of €1 million-€1.5 million.

Noting two previous cases where people had died and where other companies were fined €200,000 for breaches of health-and-safety legislation, he imposed a fine of €300,000 and ordered Corden to pay €72,000 in costs to the State.

Afterwards the late Mr Nodwell’s sister, Sheila Linehan, said the fine meant nothing to the family. “Our loss will be never be replaced,” she said.

HSA assistant chief executive Sharon McGuinness said the incident was very serious and it highlighted the necessity of a comprehensive risk assessment being undertaken and appropriate precautions being put in place when dealing with chemicals.