What happened?
A company has been fined £350,000 after a chemical storage tank collapsed and left a self-employed worker with life-changing injuries.
The incident happened at Tetra Technologies UK Limited’s offshore supply base in Peterhead. A 700-tonne tank containing calcium chloride solution ruptured without warning while a 62-year-old rope access technician was working nearby. He was immersed to chest height in the released fluid and suffered serious injuries, including fractures, internal injuries and chemical burns. He has not worked since.
HSE found that the tank was more than 30 years old. Corrosion had been identified a decade before the incident. The manufacturer’s maintenance manual required regular checks, including six-monthly checks of seams and bolts and annual external inspections for corrosion. HSE found no evidence that the required inspection regime had been consistently followed.
The key lesson is simple: ageing equipment does not become safe because it has worked for years. It becomes safe because it is inspected, maintained, repaired and taken out of service when needed.
What went wrong?
The tank failed because corrosion had seriously weakened the structure. HSE reported that around 4.5mm of the original 5.5mm steel plate had been lost through corrosion, leaving only 1mm of steel in the affected area. The tank was then filled to capacity and failed less than 30 minutes after the final load was pumped in.
This shows a common risk pattern:
- Known deterioration
- No clear remedial action
- Weak inspection evidence
- Ageing equipment still in use
- Contractors exposed to site risk
- Serious incident only after failure
For non-specialists, the point is this: if equipment holds weight, pressure, chemicals, heat, electricity, height risk or moving parts, it needs a clear inspection and maintenance system.
A visual check is not enough if the equipment needs a formal inspection. A spreadsheet is not enough if actions are not closed. A contractor RAMS pack is not enough if the client has not controlled the site hazard.
Who is affected?
SMEs
Small businesses may have tanks, racking, lifting equipment, boilers, plant rooms, machinery, drainage systems, electrical assets or ageing site equipment. The risk is often informal management. SMEs should keep a simple asset register, record inspections and act quickly when defects are found.
Medium businesses
Medium-sized organisations usually have more sites, more contractors and more equipment. Their biggest challenge is consistency. They should standardise inspection frequencies, escalation routes, defect closure and evidence storage across every site.
Large businesses
Large businesses need stronger governance. They should know which assets are safety-critical, which are overdue for inspection, which have open defects and who owns each action. Board-level assurance should be based on evidence, not verbal updates.
Multinationals
Multinationals face higher reputational, legal and operational exposure. A serious asset failure can affect insurance, ESG reporting, investor confidence and group-wide risk controls. They should apply common asset integrity standards across all sites and regions.
Contractors
Contractors working on client sites must understand the risks around them, not only the risks from their own work. Before starting work, they should ask whether nearby tanks, structures, plant or services are safe and whether isolations or exclusion zones are needed.
Subcontractors
Subcontractors are often the least powerful people on site, but they may face the greatest exposure. They should be briefed on site hazards, emergency arrangements, exclusion zones and stop-work rules before work begins.
Public sector
Public-sector bodies often manage estates, depots, schools, care settings, highways assets, plant rooms, waste facilities and contractor-heavy environments. They should expect suppliers to evidence inspection regimes, maintenance controls, RAMS, competence and defect management before work starts.
Practical actions to take now
Create or update an asset register. Include tanks, pressure systems, lifting equipment, racking, plant, machinery, access equipment, electrical systems, drainage assets and any other safety-critical equipment.
Identify safety-critical assets. Ask which assets could seriously injure people if they failed.
Check manufacturer instructions. Inspection and maintenance frequencies should reflect the manufacturer’s requirements, risk assessments and legal duties.
Look for ageing equipment. Older assets need more attention, not less. Age, corrosion, wear, exposure, modification and previous defects should all influence inspection frequency.
Review inspection evidence. Check whether inspections are actually happening and whether records are complete, dated, competent and retrievable.
Close defects properly. A defect log is only useful if actions are assigned, deadlines are set and completion evidence is stored.
Control contractors. Contractors should receive site-specific information about hazards created by the client’s premises, equipment and operations.
Use exclusion zones. If there is any risk of collapse, rupture, release, falling objects or moving plant, people should be kept out of the danger area.
Escalate overdue actions. Safety-critical inspection failures should not sit quietly in a spreadsheet. They should be escalated to management.
Audit the system. Internal audits should test whether the process works in real life, not just whether a policy exists.
TPMG service relevance
TPMG can help organisations turn asset risk into controlled, evidence-led assurance.
Relevant TPMG services include:
- Health and safety consultancy.
- ISO 45001 internal audits.
- Facilities and estates risk reviews.
- Asset condition and compliance audits.
- Contractor and subcontractor assurance.
- RAMS review and improvement.
- Maintenance inspection regime reviews.
- Defect tracking and corrective action planning.
- Digital compliance dashboards.
- Public-sector supplier assurance.
- Incident recovery and action-plan support.
The aim is practical: know what assets you have, know what condition they are in, know what inspections are due, and act before failure harms people.
Need confidence that your sites, assets, contractors, maintenance records and inspection regimes are under control?
Speak to TPMG about health and safety consultancy, ISO 45001 audits, asset compliance reviews, contractor assurance, RAMS and practical risk management support.
