A global defence contractor has been fined after two workers suffered horrific injuries in an accident at a Glenrothes plant that builds laser guidance systems for missiles.
Raytheon Systems Ltd had Steven Delargey and Russell Brand, both employees of Fife firm C&F Electrical Services, carry out work that was “not essential”.
They tried to replace capacitors while a high voltage electrical system was live because Raytheon did not want to interrupt production at the factory.
The pair suffered horrific injuries in the accident and prosecutors stated the firm wanted to “cut costs at the expense of safety”.
Their injuries were caused after one of the capacitors they were removing came into contact with a pair of live “busbars”, causing an electrical flashover that severely burned them on the face, neck and arms.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard Mr Brand and Mr Delargey both had to be admitted to intensive care units for four days.
Mr Delargey suffered 10% full thickness burns and was off work for almost a year and has been left with permanent scarring to his neck and face. Meanwhile, Mr Brand has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and has also been left with permanent scars.
Raytheon, a worldwide defence manufacturing giant, build, among other items, laser-guidance systems for missiles at the Fife factory.
Mr Delargey and Mr Brand were working as contractors at the facility replacing capacitors within a high voltage electrical distribution board.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard Raytheon, which posted profits of more than £65 million in the UK alone last year, employs 560 people at the Glenrothes plant.
A Health and Safety Executive probe found that the work should not have gone ahead with the distribution board live and that the job was “not reasonable”.
They found there was “no urgency” for the capacitors to be replaced as they had been switched off for some time. Raytheon, and C&F Electrical Services, based in Poplar Road, Glenrothes, both pleaded guilty to two charges on indictment under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
Sheriff James Williamson fined Raytheon £24,000 and C&F Electrical Services Ltd £20,000.