Brewdog has been slapped with an improvement notice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following three safety breaches.
The beer giant, which operates out of Balmacassie Industrial Estate in Ellon, has until November to meet the watchdog’s requirements.
As well as beer, Brewdog also make spirits including gin, rum and vodka.
However, inspectors raised concerns about the firm’s failure to control the risks of production and the use of “dangerous” substances.
They found Brewdog had two breaches of the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 and one breach of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR).
An improvement notice, served last month but only published today, said: “You have failed to apply appropriate measures, consistent with the risk assessment, to control the risks posed by the production and use of dangerous substances.”
‘All necessary steps’ will be taken to improve
This concerns the ethanol mixtures that are used in the process of creating their Brewdog beverages.
The notice also says Brewdog failed to “mitigate the detrimental effects if a fire or explosion were to occur” or have the processes in place to safely remove any dangerous substance from the workplace.
It also states that the employer “failed to reduce to a minimum the number of persons exposed if a fire or explosion were to occur within the distillery”.
The HSE found that these practices breached the DSEAR, which requires employers to control the risks to safety from fire, explosions and substances corrosive to metals.
Brewdog has until November 4 to comply with the notice.
A Brewdog spokesman said: “The issues identified by the HSE relate to aspects of the spirit production in our distillery, which is currently being commissioned.
“All of the improvements in the notice that the HSE raised were being addressed prior to inspection, and we are confident that all necessary steps will be taken within the timeframe set out by HSE.”
Conversation