A whisky distillery worker suffered burns to 30% of his body after being scalded by boiling liquid in a horror workplace accident.
Michael Thomson was working at Glenlossie Distillery near Elgin when an incorrectly fitted valve burst off, causing 10,000 litres of 104°C hot pot ale to engulf him.
Mr Thomson spent two weeks in intensive care and a period in an induced coma following the industrial accident on March 24 2021.
Now the distillery’s owner, international drink giant Diageo, has been fined more than half a million pounds at Inverness Sheriff Court after it admitted breaching of health and safety laws.
The firm pled guilty to failing to take reasonable steps to ensure work equipment was safely constructed or adapted, failing to provide a safe system of working and failing to ensure valves were correctly fitted, isolated and cleaned.
Burns to shoulders, arms, legs and body
Fiscal depute David Glancy told the court that no blame was attached to any individual who had checked the valve at the plant on the morning of the incident, adding that it had been incorrectly fitted.
He said: “It showed that the pump was closed when it was open. The valves on the pump were checked that they were closed but it was not noticed that one had been incorrectly fitted.
“Mr Thomson began to remove bolts from the pump to replace the seal and there was a sudden release of 104 degrees liquid, the volume and force of which knocked him over.
“He immediately made his way to a drench shower to be used in such emergencies and removed his clothing, revealing the extent of his injuries.
“Rather than wait for an ambulance, he was taken by car to hospital in Elgin.
“He now can’t expose his injuries to sunlight, even through a window, and must apply moisturiser after bathing.”
£537,500 fine for Diageo
Mr Thomson’s injuries included to his shoulders, arms, legs and body and he was off work for six months. He retired over a year later.
Defence counsel Peter Gray KC said Diageo “expressed regret and offered sincere apologies to Mr Thomson who was a long and valued employee”.
He revealed that a civil claim was in the process of being settled.
He said that Diageo, which has one previous conviction for HSE breaches, took its responsibilities to the safety of its employees very seriously and had introduced measures to prevent a repetition of the incident.
“The company pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and this should be regarded as an isolated incident,” he said.
Sheriff Gary Aitken assessed Diageo’s culpability at the medium level and imposed a fine of £537,500.
He said: “Awful as the circumstances were in this incident, they could have been significantly worse.”