Fire assay company fined $30,000 after lead exposure

A fire assay company in Western Australia has been fined $30,000 after two of its workers recorded high levels of lead in their blood. The company pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safe work environment and was sentenced in the Perth Magistrates Court on the 29th of August.

What is the fire assay method?

Fire assay is a method of testing the purity of precious metals such as gold and silver. It involves heating a sample of the metal with a flux, which melts and separates the metal from impurities. The metal is then weighed and its purity is calculated.

Workers were exposed to lead

The workers were exposed to lead dust and fumes during the fire assay process. Exposure to lead can cause serious health problems, such as damage to the nervous system, kidneys, and reproductive organs.The workers were required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves, masks, and respirators, while handling the samples. However, the company did not provide biological monitoring, health surveillance, and monitoring of the workers’ lead levels (learn how myosh can streamline these responsibilities).Workers in lead-risk jobs must be provided with mechanisms to monitor their lead levels to ensure they stay at or below the 30 micrograms limit.

High levels of lead were shown in blood tests

In 2019, two workers had blood tests that showed high levels of lead. One worker had a lead level of 24 micrograms per decilitre (µg/dL), which is above the recommended limit of 10 µg/dL for adults. The other worker had a lead level of 19 µg/dL.Both workers were advised to stop working at the company and seek medical attention.The worker with the highest lead level was admitted to a hospital where he was required to undergo treatment (chelation therapy) to reduce his lead levels. This is what sparked the WorkSafe to conduct an investigation.

WorkSafe WA investigation

The investigation found the company had breached its duty of care to its workers. They issued several improvement notices and prohibition notices to the company, requiring it to fix the hazards and prevent further exposure to lead.WorkSafe WA also prosecuted the company for failing to provide a safe work environment. The company faced a maximum penalty of $500,000 for each offence.

What did the court say?

The company pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to ensure that biological monitoring was conducted on an employee in a lead-risk job, along with two charges of failing to ensure that counselling and health surveillance were provided.The Perth Magistrates Court accepted the guilty plea and imposed a fine of $30,000 in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court:

• $17,000 on the two biological monitoring charges
• and a total of $13,000 on the two health surveillance charges

The magistrate said that the fine was intended to send a message to other employers that they must protect their workers from exposure to hazardous substances.WorkSafe Deputy Commissioner Sally North says,

"Employers must provide health surveillance to workers in lead-risk jobs to ensure their health is not adversely affected, including testing blood samples to confirm that their absorbed dose of lead is below the specified removal level."

As a result of the WorkSafe investigation, the company has implemented new procedures to ensure blood tests are routinely carried out at both their sites, and has improved its workplace practices to reduce workers’ exposure to harmful levels of lead.‍

Sources

‍Fire assay company fined $30,000 after workers record high lead levels by WorkSafe WA, 29th August, 2023.