Man paralysed in fuel tank explosion

Karol Robaczewski was cleaning the inside of a 20,000 litre fuel tank when he was engulfed by a fireball that caused severe burns and left him almost completely paralysed. Fuel Proof was prosecuted after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident at Middleton Industrial Estate in Heysham on 9 September 2011 identified serious safety failings. Preston Crown Court heard the 38-year-old, from Morecambe, had climbed through a manhole cover on top of the 6m-long tank and was cleaning the inside by applying a highly flammable solvent to a cloth and then wiping down the walls. Robaczewski decided that the lamp inside the tank was getting too hot and so he pulled the plug from its socket. As he did this, a spark caused the fumes to ignite and he was surrounded by flames, which were witnessed shooting into the air up to two meters above the manhole cover. The fire was so hot that it melted the visor on his mask and his protective suit, so that only the elastic from the collar and cuffs were left. Robaczewski suffered multiple burns over most of his body, including his arms, legs and face, his hair and eyebrows were burnt off, and his lips badly burnt. He was in hospital for three months and is now almost totally paralysed. Fuel Proof was fined £66,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £25,000 after pleading guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 on 28 October 2013.