A conviction and penalty have been handed down against the operators of a cement plant in Picton, related to an explosion in 2021.
On September 7, 2021, Prince Edward County Fire responded to the Lehigh Cement Plant, now operating as Heidelberg Materials Canada Limited.
A natural gas explosion took place inside the plant as contract workers from a different company were performing maintenance.
Crews were replacing a jet air blower when gas accumulated and caused a flash fire.
Three workers were injured, with two taken to hospital in Toronto for treatment.
The company plead guilty in Provincial Offences Court in Belleville and was fined $190,000, with a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, to assist victims of crime.
Details from the Ontario Court Bulletin below:
Background:
- On September 7, 2021, workers contracted from a different company were doing maintenance work at the Lehigh Cement plant in Picton.
- A kiln at the plant had been running on coal dust. It was going to be switched over to natural gas so that the maintenance workers could change the jet air blower in its coal feed system.
- To remove the jet air blower, workers needed to shut down the kiln’s swirl air fan, located in the same area as the jet air blower that was being removed.
- The swirl air fan had two valves that needed to be closed before the kiln could switch to natural gas. The purpose of the valves was to prevent natural gas from backing up into the coal system. The two valves were redundant, so that only one needed to be closed to prevent a gas backup. A malfunction with one of the valves would mean the system would keep operating with just one valve rather than shutting down.
- When workers attempted to shut both valves, one would not close. An electrician from Lehigh Concrete overrode the signal from the stuck valve so that it would show as closed on the computer program, allowing gas to flow.
- A second Lehigh Concrete electrician saw the difference in valve position and overrode the signal for the second valve as well, allowing both valves to be open despite showing as closed on the computer.
- When gas began to flow, it was able to flow through the open valves into the area where the maintenance workers were replacing the jet air blower. Gas accumulated and caused a flash fire, injuring three workers.
- A reasonable precaution to protect the safety of the maintenance workers would have been to ensure that both valves of the swirl air fan were closed before allowing natural gas to flow into the system.
- Lehigh Cement Limited, now operating as Heidelberg Materials Canada Limited, failed, as an employer, to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
