O-I Glass has been fined £600,000 after a worker was burnt by molten glass at its production site in Alloa, Scotland, UK.

The company pleaded guilty to one charge following the incident on 3 February 2024.

A 32-year-old man suffered scald burns to 8% of his body, but has since been able to make a full recovery.

The company, which employs around 500 people at the site, continually operates furnaces that are used to smelt raw materials, from which glass bottles are manufactured.

The furnaces and production lines are located on the floor above two glass reject basements, which house a number of large, moveable skips.

It is into these skips that molten or formed glass is rejected, via chutes, during the production process.

Coolant water runs down each chute with the rejected molten or formed glass, which in turn generates very hot water and large amounts of steam.

Due to the continuous nature of the operation, the skips would quickly fill and sometimes reject material, and water would spill from the skips onto the basement floors.

Employees working in these basements use shovel loaders to clear this spilled material from the floors, which is then emptied into other skips.

On the day in question, the worker had been operating a shovel loader, clearing the waste molten glass and hot water from the basement floor.

However, there was no protective door on the cab of the vehicle, so some of the material spilled from the bucket onto him.

When it was first provided for use, the loader was fitted with a protective door incorporating a glass window, in front of the cab.

However, an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) established that the protective door had been missing since March 2022.

It had been removed from the vehicle after being damaged, and although this was reported to the site engineer at the time, no action was taken to replace it.

Following the incident, the company removed the vehicle from service.

It returned in June 2024, after being fitted with a steel front door, incorporating a glass window with protective wire mesh.

O-I Glass pleaded guilty to Regulation 5 (1) of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and section 33 (1) of Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for failing to maintain the vehicle in an efficient state, an efficient working order and in good repair.

The company was fined £600,000 at Stirling Sheriff Court on 23 September 2025.

The HSE's report of the incident can be found here: https://press.hse.gov.uk/2025/