Petrol Station Owner Fined After Explosion Kills 2 People

A taxi firm owner and a petrol station have been fined after an explosion in Immingham in which two people died.

According to the BBC, Sue Barker, 43, and Ann Mawer, 52, died in the blast in 2007 when petrol on the premises ignited. Mrs Barker’s husband John Barker, 46, was fined £2,400 after he admitted two counts of breaching health and safety laws.

Immingham Service Station Ltd was fined £7,500 at Grimsby Crown Court for breaching its petroleum licence.

After an investigation by North East Lincolnshire Council, Mr Barker was charged with failing to protect his employees in relation to the storage of petrol and failing to protect the public.

Immingham Service Station Ltd admitted breaching a condition of its petroleum spirit licence by dispensing the fuel in to an unapproved container.

The circumstances of the accident were that Mr Barker had bought nearly 25 litres of petrol from the service station.
He then carried it in to the taxi firm’s office, which also contained a gas heater and electrical appliances. The container broke and the petrol spilled and ignited, causing the explosion.

The council’s head of public protection, Joh Searle, said: “We hope that the conclusion of this case will once again serve as a reminder to the public and the retail industry of the importance of adhering to health and safety legislation.”

Yet again this is a clear illustration of what can happen if the appropriate health and safety procedures are not followed. By using an unapproved container the petrol station left itself vulnerable to something happening to the container and, low and behold, the container broke and caused the petrol to spill.