A Peterborough company has been fined \u00a3500,000 after a young father was killed in an explosion at a firework factory.<\/p>\n
Twenty-four-year-old Brendan Ledgister was working for Le Maitre Ltd when one of the products he was using ignited and caused an explosion<\/a> on 2 October 2018.<\/p>\n The aftermath of the explosion at Le Maitre Limited<\/p>\n Brendan, who lived in Peterborough, had only become a father eight months before and was described as \u201ckind, gentle and funny\u201d.<\/p>\n Brendan\u2019s father Gladstone Ledgister said: \u201cIt was the worst day in my life. My only son and best friend died. The suffering is still embedded in my mind and will never leave me until I die.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was such a nice boy, he was kind, gentle, funny, and happy \u2013 and its all been taken away from us \u2013 especially from his daughter. She didn\u2019t even know him.\u201d<\/p>\n Peterborough Magistrates Court heard how Mr Ledgister was making a pyrotechnic composition when one of the products ignited causing a significant explosion. He suffered serious burns in the explosion and died of his injuries the following day.<\/p>\n An Investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) determined that the system of work for working with explosive materials was not safe.\u00a0 The tools he was provided with were unsuitable for handling the explosive materials and the facility in which he was working was not of an appropriate standard. The company also failed to provide him with adequate training and he was not appropriately supervised.<\/p>\n The aftermath of the explosion at Le Maitre Limited<\/p>\n Le Maitre Ltd (now known as LM140121 Limited) were found guilty of breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act as, on and prior to the 2 October 2018, they failed in their duties to ensure so far as reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare of their employees, and hence were found guilty of under \u00a0section 33(1)(a) of the Act. The company were fined \u00a3500,000 and ordered to pay costs of \u00a3 20,788.65.<\/p>\n Speaking after the hearing the HM Inspector of Health and Safety, Stuart Charles said: \u201cOur thoughts and sympathies remain with Brendan\u2019s family.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the explosive sector in the UK is relatively small and incidents relatively uncommon, when they do occur they often result in significant injury or death.<\/p>\n \u201cThis case should reinforce the message to the sector that appropriate precautions must be maintained or an event such as this is likely.\u201d<\/p>\n Notes to Editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Health and Safety Executive<\/a> (HSE) is Britain\u2019s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. A Peterborough company has been fined \u00a3500,000 after a young father was killed in an explosion at a firework factory. Twenty-four-year-old Brendan Ledgister was working for Le Maitre Ltd when one of the products he was using ignited and caused an explosion on 2 October 2018. The aftermath of the explosion at Le Maitre Limited…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMore information about the legislation<\/a> referred to in this case is available.
\nFurther details on the latest HSE news releases<\/a> is available.
\nGuidance on the Explosives Regulations 2014: Safety Provisions<\/a> is available.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"