Two garage apprentices suffered serious burns after using a heat torch in an attempt to dry off highly inflammable brake cleaner they had been using to clean up an inspection pit, magistrates in Liskeard heard on Monday. Before the court was 48-year-old garage proprietor Philip Eddy Dark of Holly Oaks, Pengover, Liskeard, who admitted breaching health and safety regulations by failing to provide proper instruction to the pair on the dangers of using flammable materials. After hearing the evidence, the court conditionally discharged Dark for two years and ordered him to pay £1,000 towards prosecution costs. Steve Panton, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said that on August 1, 2005, teenage apprentices Richard McCormack and Ben Ackland had been asked to clean out a vehicle inspection pit at Dark's Oaklands Garage in Liskeard. The pit, he said, had been in use for some years and was covered in oily deposits – Dark had not specifically instructed them to use brake cleaner for the job but had assumed they would use 'a quantity' of it. In fact, said Mr Panton, they used a 'significant' quantity and then tried to soak it up, first of all using absorbent granules and then a heat gun. Both were in the pit when, at some point, the vapour came into contact with the heating element of the gun and there was an explosion which resulted in them receiving serious burns. They were treated initially at Liskeard Community Hospital before being transferred to Derriford Hospital where Mr McCormack was placed in intensive care and then flown to a specialist unit in Swansea. Both had made a remarkable recovery and although they suffered scarring they had not been prevented from returning to work. Mr Panton said the vapour given off by the brake cleaner was heavier than air and had accumulated in the inspection pit – Dark had not given them any instruction as to the dangers of using it and it was that failing which the HSE said had led to the pair's injuries. Malcolm Galloway, for Dark, said that on the day in question Mr Ackland, the younger of the two apprentices, had expressed an interest in using the pit. Dark had agreed but said that the pit would need to be cleaned out first and repainted. 'Mr Dark accepts that he expected them to use brake cleaner because it was frequently used for that purpose,' said Mr Galloway. Warned 'But he expected them to put the fluid on a rag and use it to wipe the oil off. He did not expect them to slosh around the pit like a bucket of soapy water. However he had not specifically told them that if they did, it would create fumes.' Mr Galloway said it was a reasonable assumption that two young men of 17 and 18, who had been working in that environment for some time, would realise that in the same way as one did not throw fuel around a garage, the same thing applied to flammable brake cleaner. In fact, said Mr Galloway, Mr Ackland had warned his colleague not to use the heat gun because of the fumes. Dark had occasionally checked on their progress and at one point had found them using a high- powered inspection lamp in an attempt to dry off the cleaner. He had packed the equipment away but they had found the equipment again and set it up again – Dark had taken them aside and warned them that it was a fire risk. McCormack had then gone to a part of the garage from where he had been told not to take tools without permission, and picked up a heat gun which he had taken back to the pit. Mr Ackland had told him not to use it but he had done so and there had been an explosion. Dark, said Mr Galloway, had not instructed the young men to use the heat gun and had assumed they would use their common sense. 'His fault lies in not making sure these young men were not going to do something stupid,' he said. Dark no longer employed apprentices at the garage despite having done so for the 24 years he had been in business there. He had a good health and safety record and the incident had been a one-off mistake. 'He is not some kind of cowboy who does not care about the way in which he operates the garage,' said Mr Galloway, who produced references from the local authority and from four previous apprentices. Passing sentence, court chairman Rita Watkins said she and her colleagues accepted the mitigation presented on behalf of the defendant along with his good record and the fact that he had not profited from his actions and had cooperated fully with the investigation.
