Man falls in cyanide vat

Paul R Taylor

December 13, 2007

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A MAN is fighting for his life in hospital after falling into a vat of liquid cyanide at a factory in Leigh.

The 62-year-old worker at Karas Industries Ltd fell in shortly before 3.45am this morning and was pulled out by two colleagues before fire crews arrived.

Fire fighters wearing chemical protection suits then decontaminated the man by hosing him down, before he was rushed to Royal Bolton Hospital where he remains in a critical condition.

Cyanide can cause fatal cardiac arrests if ingested.

His rescuers were treated for shock at the metal plating factory, at Brooklands Mill, Leigh, but declined hospital treatment.

The Health and Safety Executive has been informed and a joint investigation will be carried out with police.

What do you think? Have your say.

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cashonly, Nimes (13/12/2007 at 10:39)

All too often incidents like this occur because profits take priority over the safety of workers. If proper procedures were followed, how was it possible for this man to fall in the vat?

sledge (13/12/2007 at 11:42)

I just can't picture this huge vat of highly toxic chemical in any workplace, it sounds like something out of the dark ages

RobFisher (13/12/2007 at 11:59)

Vats of chemicals are not from the dark ages -- they are used in industrial processes. If you look at the company's website, you can see that they do metal plating, something that is important in manufacturing.

I would argue that having employees injured is not good for profits. It will be interesting to see what the report says, but either the procedures are wrong, or they were not followed, or this is just a one-in-a-million freak accident.

Danny Knott (13/12/2007 at 13:14)

Having dealt with Karas over the past few years I firstly would like to pass on my thoughts to the injured man, and also the rest of the workforce.

Reference has been made to the "dark ages" and while not particularly taking issue with the person who wrote it, I can assure everyone that the Karas site is operated to the highest safety standards. Regardless of the appearance of the mill (dark ages maybe?), the set up inside is modern and very well maintained. Sadly, as already commented accidents are unavoidable regardless of how many precautions are in place and I am sure this what has happened in this case.

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