Health and Safety Failings – Construction firms prosecuted after worker loses arm

Construction firms prosecuted after worker loses arm

Key Facts:

• Three construction firms prosecuted after worker loses arm in incident with chip spreader machinery.
• Multiple safety failings identified, including lack of training, no safe systems of work in place, and risk assessment failings.
• The construction firms were fined a total of £355,045 and costs of £54,000.

The Case:

An HSE investigation into three construction firms was launched after a worker lost his arm in a poorly-guarded machine, during a road surfacing operation on 8 March 2012. Three companies had been involved in the operation and therefore all three were prosecuted.

A worker was preparing a chip spreader for use on the day of the incident. He was in the process of repositioning part of the machinery – an operation which involved moving the mesh safety guard around the machine – when he tripped and fell forward, his arm falling towards the rotating auger and became entangled. As a result of the injuries he sustained, he had to have his arm amputated which has left him unable to return to work.

The HSE’s subsequent investigation identified several key safety failings:

• The worker had not been formally trained in using the chip spreader
• Workers on the site had been given just one evening to familiarise themselves with the machine – six months prior to the incident
• No instruction or training had been given in how to operate the machine
• No operator’s manual was provided to workers for the machine
• Workers were not given instruction of training on how to secure the machine guards
• No safe system of work was in place to ensure the machine was prepared and used safely
• Use of the machine was not restricted to those who were trained
• There was a risk assessment and site-specific method statement for the operation, but they did not accurately reflect the control in place. In fact, the RA described a different type of chip spreader to the one being used.
• Reasonably practicable steps had not been taken to ensure workers allocated to operate the chip spreader had been given adequate training, information and instruction in the machine’s use.

All three construction firms pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Company A was fined £150,015 and costs of £18,000. Company B was fined £175,015 and costs of £18,000. Company C was fined £30,015 and costs of £18,000.

What the HSE inspector had to say:

Speaking after the hearing the HSE Inspector Gavin Bull stated that:

“This tragic incident has left a worker with life-changing injuries. It was wholly avoidable. The risks associated with plant operating are well-known in the industry.”

“This incident highlights the need for workers to receive the information, instruction and training they need to operate plant safely and for companies to put in place measures to ensure the plant is operated safely on site.”

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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