Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. An overview of this weeks prosecutions by the HSE.
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Cheltenham machine operator injured after safety mechanism is disabled
An Ystrad Mynach recycling firm has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a yard foreman was crushed to death.
A component engineering company in Cheltenham has been fined after an employee suffered head injuries on a machine that had a safety mechanism deliberately disabled.
Grzegorz Chylenski, 33, from Cheltenham, was working with a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machine at PG Components Ltd at the time of the incident on 22 August last year.
Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (21 May) that when Mr Chylenski reached into the open CNC machine to retrieve a dropped component, he was struck on the head by moving parts, suffering a fractured jaw and cuts to his face and ear.
On the day of the incident, the CNC machine had been programmed by one of the directors of PG Components and was running on a short cycle. The enclosed machine is fitted with a manufacturer’s safety function that stops the machine running when its doors are opened. However, an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the safety mechanism had been disabled.
Bypassing the manufacturer’s safety mechanism and operating the machine with the doors open allows for a quicker more efficient cycle, but poses a risk to the operator and anyone reaching inside.
PG Components (Cheltenham) Ltd, of Unit 1B, The Runnings, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £11,200 and ordered to pay £2,777.60 in costs and compensation to the injured party of £2,500.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Telford firm fined after worker’s hand is severely injured
A sand and gravel supplier has been fined for safety failings after an employee had three tendons in his hand severed.
Jamie Roden, 26, from Telford, was trying to clear a blockage in a machine used to bag quarried material when his hand was caught by a dangerous heat-sealing device with a blade inside.
Mr Roden had only been employed by Salop Sand & Gravel Supply Company Ltd for four months when the incident happened at Wildmoor Quarry, Sandy Lane in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire on 15 September 2011.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told Redditch Magistrates’ Court today that Mr Roden was attempting to clear the blockage by opening the doors on a ‘form, fill, seal’ machine, which creates, fills and seals plastic sacks of quarried materials. Because an interlock system to cut the power supply when the doors were opened did not work, the machine kept running. The heat sealer slammed onto Mr Roden’s left hand, severing three tendons.
Mr Roden was unable to return to work due to his injuries and has since left the company. Eight months on since the incident, he has only just been able to find another job.
HSE prosecuted Salop Sand & Gravel Supply Company Ltd after an investigation revealed a number of failings which allowed Mr Roden to access the machine when it was still powered. A machine guard had been available since 2007 but hadn’t been fitted and the firm had failed to ensure the interlocks on the doors were sufficiently maintained. A suitable and sufficient risk assessment had not been carried out.
Salop Sand & Gravel Supply Company Ltd of Admaston, Wellington, Telford pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
The company was fined £3,300 and ordered to pay costs of £3,491.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
British Standards Online Shop
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West Yorkshire company’s safety failure leads to fine
A Keighley firm has been fined £15,000 for a serious safety breach after a worker severed three fingers in a machine with rotating spikes.
The 26 year-old employee lost two fingers completely and a third just below the knuckle on his dominant hand while working on a carding machine at JTS Cushions, in Gresley Road, on 29 June 2011.
Bradford Magistrates’ Court heard today (24 May) the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and found the company was aware that a timed safety mechanism over ran on the machine, yet failed to fix it.
Magistrates were told the employee, who has asked not to be named, was working on a line filling cushions. He saw a blockage and stopped the machine using a key on a control panel that started a time delay before a safety guard could be opened. Employees had been told to allow extra time and to take care because JTS knew the machine ran for longer than it should before coming to rest.
Although he thought he had allowed enough time, when the man went to clear the blockage, his hand was drawn into spiked rollers that were still rotating, severing the fingers from his right hand. The rollers on the carding machine are covered with wire pins that straighten and mix fibres.
The worker was in hospital for three days, has had two operations and will need a third to help straighten his contracted hand.
JTS Cushions, of Gresley Road, Keighley, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to properly address the timer delay issue, and for allowing access to dangerous moving parts as a result. The firm was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £2,972 in costs.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
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