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Babcock Marine (Clyde) Ltd complies with improvement notice

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) can confirm that Babcock Marine (Clyde) Limited has now complied with an improvement notice served on them following an electrical overload incident.

The incident occurred during routine battery replacement work on a Vanguard Class submarine in August 2021 as the vessel was docked at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde in Scotland.

Nobody was injured as a result of the incident and there was no risk to the public or the environment.

Babcock Marine (Clyde) Ltd had until 28 April 2023 to comply with the improvement notice and has now delivered the evidence for compliance ahead of this timescale.

Bruce Archer, Head of the ONR’s Propulsion Sub-Division, said: “Since we served the improvement notice on Babcock Marine (Clyde) Ltd we have undertaken several targeted interventions related to their progress and carried out an inspection at the site.

“We are now satisfied they have established a safe system of work for the management of battery replacement maintenance, which includes systematic review of training and supervision levels associated with this task.”

The improvement notice was issued under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, sections 2(1) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Regulation 3 (1).