A STEEL galvanising firm has been fined more than half a million pounds after one of its workers suffered 40 per cent burns from being covered in a wave of molten zinc in Crediton.

The employee was working for Wedge Group Galvanizing Limited at its site in Marsh End, Lords Meadow Industrial Estate, when the incident happened on October 12, 2021.

Hot dip galvanising is a process that provides long-term protection against rust and corrosion of steel products.

On the day in question, a lifting chain, carrying a roller steel joist weighing nearly three tonnes, failed. The beam fell into a galvanising bath and the resulting wave of molten zinc covered the 33-year-old employee, before hitting a wall and surging back along the floor towards him.

CCTV footage from the scene shows the worker alight and running towards the emergency shower where his clothes were removed and he was doused in water.

He was initially treated at the scene by paramedics, before being taken by air ambulance to Southmead hospital in Bristol.

He suffered 40 per cent burns and remained in intensive care for 11 days undergoing 13 separate operations. Any remaining healthy skin was grafted to repair his burnt body.

During his lengthy treatment the man suffered infection and sepsis leaving him with multiple long-term health conditions.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the set of chains used to lift the heavy steel beam had signs of damage and deterioration and there was a failure to withdraw them. Crucially, the chains had not undergone their mandatory regular inspection.

The investigation also revealed that the load slinging arrangement used at the time of the incident was incorrect, which meant that the load being lifted was greater than the safe limit for the chains. The risk assessment in place at the time of the incident for “immersion and swilling” had no reference to checks on chains, or what type of sling configuration to use.

Wedge Group Galvanizing Limited of Stafford Street, Willenhall, West Midlands, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £566,666 and ordered to pay £15,521 in costs at Bristol Magistrates Court on October 14, 2026.