Prosecutions

A container manufacturer in South Wirral, was fined a total of £7,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,735 at a Magistrates’ Court recently; after the company had earlier pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety legislation. 

The Health & Safety Executive brought charges against the company, under Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 and Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 following its investigation into the incident that occurred in 2008 at the company’s Works in Staffordshire.
As part of the lacquering process lids, for the large ends of steel drums, sometimes become jammed on the chained conveyor where they enter an oven to bake the lacquer. The operator, was trying to clear the backlog of lids when his hand became drawn into in the unguarded chain drive. He was able to withdraw his hand before it became further entangled but it had already been injured by the teeth of the chain sprocket.

The company had failed to identify the risks involved in clearing blockages and the need for guarding on the machine’s exposed moving parts. The company had not taken sufficient measures to guard its employees from dangerous parts of machinery.

Speaking after the case, a HSE investigating inspector said: "The dangers of using machines without suitable safeguards are well known and long-established. Serious injuries such as amputation can result when limbs, or parts of limbs, become trapped by moving parts so it is fortunate that, in this case, injuries were not more severe.

"Allowing machines to be operated without suitable and appropriate guards blatantly ignores the safety of employees and is a fundamental failure by the company.