Deputy traffic commissioner Fiona Harrington said Simon Carrington, from Immingham, had demonstrated a “wilful blindness” to the risks and had not taken any of the steps that she would reasonably expect of an experienced ADR certified driver faced with any spill of a hazardous substance.
At a conduct hearing in Leeds, the regulator saw CCTV footage of the incident near the Dow Corning chemical site in Barry, South Wales.
The site has its own emergency response team, but the driver failed to alert Dow Corning to the spill and, after taking the hazardous materials warning signs off the vehicle, drove away leaving the spill unattended.
Harrington added: ““He did not check the delivery paperwork given to him by Dow Corning after delivery and he deliberately ignored the instructions of his employer in opening the tanker valve and lid in an area not designed to contain and control any release of the controlled hazardous substance.”
The site was subsequently attended by Dow Corning’s emergency response team after another driver noticed the smell and had breathing difficulties.
