Breach of Safety Regulations causes serious injury and fines of £25 000

Two employees of a chipboard manufacting company were involved in accidents resulting in serious injuries.

One suffered crush injuries caused by a set of clamps, three months later a second man was trapped by process machinery and a conveyor resulting in his leg being amputated below the knee.

The company was fined over £25,000 and ordered to pay nearly £12,000 costs.

The two incidents contravened both Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

The failures included, in the first incident;

• not carrying out a suitable assessment of the risks arising from clearing blockages on the equipment;
• did not ensure that a piece of work equipment was maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair and
• did not have a means to safely isolate the stored energy in the equipment;

In the second incident:

• not carrying out a suitable assessment of the risks arising from use of the line;
• not complying with the hierarchy of control measures to control risk;
• failing to guard dangerous parts of the machine; and
• failing to have stop devices in place that brought the machine to a safe stop.

The incidents emphasise the employer’s duty to assess the risks posed by the work activities and control or eliminate those risks. As well as the normal operation of the equipment, abnormal situations must be assessed e.g. clearing blockages, maintenance, breakdown, fault finding etc.

Typical control measures include guarding, controls to stop equipment safely, isolation with a means of preventing the power being reinstated i.e. ‘locked off’, a means of dissipating any ‘stored energy’ such as air or hydraulic pressure.

Any controls put in place must be monitored to ensure they remain effective.

References
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.