Health and Safety Failings – Fine issued after worker crushed by machinery

Fine issued after worker crushed by machinery

Key Facts:

• A worker’s leg was crushed in an incident involving unsafe machinery.
• Key safety failings were identified, such as failure to maintain guards or implement a safe system of work.
• As a result, the company was fined £12,000 and costs of £3,577.

The Case:

An investigation was launched into the safety procedures of a waste recycling firm after a worker was involved in an unsafe machinery incident on 27 January 2014.

The 22-year-old employee was working to clear a blockage from a cardboard baler on the day of the incident, when he accidentally activated the baler. His leg became trapped between the moving bed and the static framework. It took 3 hours for firefighters to successfully free him.

The worker was hospitalised for four weeks, and required three separate operations to inset metal rods and screws into his left leg. He needed skin and muscle grafts, and in some places his injuries were so severe that in some places, the bones in his leg are now missing.

The HSE identified key health and safety failings that resulted in the worker’s leg being crushed:

• The company failed to maintain guards on the baler.
• Guards were present, but they did not close properly meaning they failed to work properly.
• There was no safe system of work in place for isolating the power supply to the baler.

The case was heard at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on 26 March 2015, where the firm pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974. They were fined £12,000 and costs of £3,577.

What the HSE inspector had to say:

Speaking after the hearing the HSE Inspector Berian Price stated that:

“The incident was entirely preventable. Bakers Waste Services fell below the standards expected of a competent employer, standards which are well publicised and accepted within the industry. The safety devices on the baler had been defective for a period of time yet it took an horrific incident before they took action to remedy the problem.

Incidents arising from dangerous parts of machinery are unfortunately commonplace despite freely available guidance. Around 12 people a year are killed and a further 40,000 injured due to incidents involving machinery.”

What the law states:

Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states:

It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.

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