We came across a case where a client with laboratory operations had a small 10 litre bath of solvent ignite from static ignition.  The subsequent fire caused such damage that the repair bill ran to over £500,000.

Our part was to look at the DSEAR assessment provided to the client by another consultancy. What we  found was the worst DSEAR assessment we have ever come across, a two page document that barely did justice as a general risk assessment and certainly not detailed enough to identify the risks.

The client had relied upon the advice of this consultancy to protect them and their workforce and were badly let down.  Because of this the client has since won a long drawn out court case against the consultants and received full compensation.

What’s most frustrating for the client is that if the risk had been pointed out they would have put the necessary controls in place and the fire would have been avoided.  The improvements are not complicated or expensive.

This consultant attempted to defend their position by blaming the client for not recognising the risk from static; yet the assessment did not point this out. It’s clear that most people would probably not recognise the potential for static to ignite flammable vapors;  that’s what you rely on the specialist to identify.  In this case the consultant provided poor advice at highly expensive fees.

This shows that when you employ a specialist you need to check their competence.  You shouldn’t just rely on them saying that they know what they are doing or the fact they charge very high rates.  In this case the poor advice nearly cost a life and needlessly did cause major disruptions to the business.