Essar Oil fined £1.65m for refinery explosion

There were no fatalities, but the blast caused internal structures to collapse, creating damage that totalled more than £20 million, Liverpool Crown Court heard this week (3 April).

According to the HSE, which investigated the incident, Essar Oil failed to take all measures necessary to prevent or mitigate a major accident, which occurred close to the refinery’s main distillation unit and a furnace.  

Speaking after the hearing, HSE principal inspector Joanne Eccles said: “The industry should take notice of this case, there were no injuries but mistakes were made and could have been prevented.”

Essar Oil pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Control of Major Hazards Regulations 1999 and was fined £1,650,000. The company also incurred costs of £57,644.80.

In a statement, the HSE said Essar Oil committed three key failings in the case:

• A safety critical valve was ordered and installed incorrectly and Essar failed to correctly validate its operation
• Essar failed to adequately assess the installation of a new safety critical trip as they failed to recognise the system had a by-pass line which defeated the trip’s operation
• Essar’s policy was to isolate main fuel lines to the furnace. However, the hydrocarbons entered the furnace via a secondary fuel line which had not been isolated when shut down.