Safety in Laboratories HPA fined £25,000 for exposing employees to deadly bacteria

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has been fined £25,000 for exposing its employees to the risk of infection from the potentially deadly E.coli O157 bacteria.

Safety in Laboratories is an important issue

On 9 October 2007, a worker was transferring the bacteria from a laboratory to a discard area at the HPA’s Centre for Infections in Colindale, North London. The bug was contained inside metal bins, which were placed inside a transfer trolley.

As the worker was lifting one of the bins, his hand slipped, and the unit’s lid fell open, which allowed more than 100ml of the bacteria to spill onto the floor in the discard area. There were two other employees in the room, and all of them were put at risk of contamination, although none of them became infected.

The Health & Safety Executive conducted an investigation which found that many of the bins had defects on the lid hinges, which was the reason that the lid was able to fall open. No PPE had been issued to staff, who hadn’t received adequate training to ensure that the transfer of the bacteria was carried out in accordance with standard operating procedures.

The HSE sent in a specialist inspector, who commented on her findings:

“E.coli O157 is a highly infectious and potentially deadly bacterium, and there are well-established practices for handling this safely. But in this case, these practices were not met, exposing several staff and possibly their families to a real risk of infection.

“HPA should have developed and implemented a safe system of work for dealing with E.coli O157 and for transferring and inactivating Hazard Group 3 waste. Equipment should have been well maintained, and employees should have had appropriate training.”

The HPA appeared at the Old Bailey on July 9th, 2010 and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA. It was ordered to pay £20,166 towards prosecution costs in addition to the fine of £25,000. Safety in laboratories needs to be incorporated into workplace safety.

In mitigation, it said it had no previous convictions and had taken immediate remedial action following the incident. It has subsequently reviewed its method of work, re-trained workers, and now carries out regular testing and maintenance of equipment. All of the bins were immediately removed from service and repaired within seven days.

The HPA issued a statement after the hearing:

“The HPA regrets the circumstances that led to the conviction and accepts the fine imposed by the court. We are keen to stress that none of the staff present at the time of this incident suffered any ill health and there was categorically no risk to the public from the spillage. Nevertheless, we accepted the seriousness of this incident, referred it immediately to the HSE, and cooperated fully with their investigation. Since the incident, which occurred more than two and half years ago, the HPA has conducted a thorough review of its health and safety management and has taken the appropriate steps to reduce the likelihood of a similar incident occurring in future.”