United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS trust based in Grantham, was today fined £18,500 and ordered to pay full costs of £3,504.80 today after pleading guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and regulation 5 (1) of the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 at Boston Magistrates Court.

A visit by HSE inspectors to the Pilgrim Hospital at Boston revealed an employee had been cleaning the film processor for several years without proper safety precautions, exposing her to gluteraldehyde, a chemical which can cause skin and respiratory problems.

HSE Inspector Jo Anderson said:

"The Trust placed the health of one its workers at risk by failing to properly identify the risk of exposure and putting appropriate controls in place. In fact, the risk was only identified when HSE staff visited the hospital and banned the use of the film processor until steps were taken to reduce the exposure risks.

"All employers must have systems in place to ensure that work with hazardous substances is identified, in order that the health of employees can be properly protected. This should include non-routine work, such as cleaning, maintenance and out-of-hours work.

"Employees should always be made fully aware of precautions to prevent this type of exposure, which could have resulted in long-term health problems for the employee. Exposure to even very small amounts of gluteraldehyde can lead to allergic skin reactions, hay fever symptoms and asthma