Health and safety officials have shut down some operations at a Moray distillery amid concerns about the risk of potentially fatal burns.
Work at the evaporator plant at the Glenlossie Distillery, near Elgin, was suspended in late March following a visit by the HSE.
Officials served an immediate prohibition notice on owners Diageo, causing operations there to be suspended while production in the distillery continues as normal.
‘Risk of serious burns and fatal injuries’
Work has not resumed in the Glenlossie plant since the visit with changes still being made to meet the terms of the enforcement notice.
The notice reads: “You (Diageo) do not have a system of work that is safe, so far as is reasonably practicable for isolation of elements of the dark grains plant and this could lead to loss of containment of hot pot ale causing serious burns and potentially fatal injuries.”
The notice explains the issues found are breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The dark grains plant at Glenlossie was opened in the 1990s to process by-products from Diageo’s distilleries in the area.
The evaporator plant is used to boil down pot ale to add to residue from the mashing of the malt to make pellets, which are sold to farms for animal feed.
Diageo working to address concerns raised
Diageo has confirmed that work is ongoing in the evaporator plant to comply with the HSE notice.
A spokesman said: “The HSE notification refers to the Glenlossie evaporator plant, which is a processing site for distillery co-products. It does not relate to Glenlossie Distillery, which remains operational as normal.
“The evaporator plant is currently closed while work is carried out to meet the terms of the HSE notification.”
Diageo does not produce any bottlings from Glenlossie, which is based near Birnie south of Elgin, but the distillery is a contributor to the spirit giant’s blends, which are famed across the world.