Company receives £1.275m fine after a man was crushed to death at their quarry
Tarmac Aggregates Ltd has received a seven-figure after a man was crushed to death during maintenance work at Mountsorrel Quarry in Leicestershire.
The man died in the early hours of 21 June 2017 after becoming trapped between a conveyor and a feed hopper.
The contractor, who was working on behalf of Branston Site Services Limited, was part of a nightshift maintenance team that was repairing a feed hopper at the quarry, operated by Tarmac Aggregates Limited. The man had been stood on a conveyor that was located under the feed hopper and had not been effectively isolated before the repair work started. The conveyor was inadvertently switched on, trapping the worker against the feed hopper, fatally crushing him.
An HSE investigation into this incident found that Tarmac Aggregates Limited had failed to ensure the feed hopper was properly isolated before the repair work commenced. The test button on the conveyor electrical panel was not connected to the test circuit and was therefore inoperative. This issue appears to have existed for many years before the incident, meaning that Tarmac Aggregates Limited failed to ensure critical defects were recorded and rectified in a timely manner. The company should have also provided a visual and audible pre-start alarm for the conveyor.
Breaches
Tarmac Aggregates Limited pleaded guilty to breaching pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
- Section 2(1) requires employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees.
- Section 3(1) requires that employers ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons they do not employ who may be affected are not exposed to risks to their health and safety
Penalty
Tarmac Aggregates Limited was fined £1,275,000 and ordered to pay £200,000 in costs.
Catering and retail butcher company fined after a worker severed fingers
A Herefordshire meat company has been fined after a teenage worker severed three fingers and partially a fourth while operating machinery that wasn’t suitably guarded.
On 18 July 2020, the 18-year-old man was operating a grinding machine at LDA Meats Limited in Ledbury. While he was mincing some lamb, the worker slipped on the wet floor and, in an attempt to save himself, put his hand out and into the machine. This caused him to sever his fingers when his hand came into contact with the rotating worm thread in the machine.
An HSE investigation found the machine had not been suitably and sufficiently assessed to identify the hazardous parts, the risks associated with the machine or the required control measures to prevent access to dangerous parts.
The HSE investigation also found the machine was not subject to routine guard checks. This meant an issue with the safety cut out device within the lid of the machine had not been detected or remedied. It was possible for the machine to be operated with the lid open, providing access to dangerous rotating parts.
Breach
LDA Meats Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regs 1998:
- Regulation 11(1) requires employers to ensure measures are taken to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery or any rotating stock-bar, or to stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery or rotating stock-bar before any part of a person enters at danger zone.
Penalty
LDA Meats Limited was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,339.80.
Chemical supplier fined after driver suffered chemical burns
A company in Lincolnshire has received a six-figure fine after a driver suffered chemical burns to his feet.
On 9 August 2022, the driver had been offloading his tanker during a delivery at Tronox Pigment UK Limited’s premises in Stallingborough, Grimsby. During the offloading process, the man was standing in what he assumed to be a puddle of rainwater, due to the fact it had been raining throughout the day and the drains were blocked. However, the driver was actually standing in a pool of water containing a corrosive caustic chemical.
The man suffered chemical burns leading to him requiring skin grafts to the underside of both feet. The smallest toe on each of his feet were also amputated. The driver was unable to work for 12 weeks.
The pool of chemicals had leaked from the company’s scrubber system and secondary containment. It ended up on the roadway after the site’s sump pumps failed to pump the chemicals away.
An HSE investigation found that Tronox Pigment UK Limited had not responded adequately to control the risk of a loss of containment after the site’s sump pumps failed to work. The firm’s failure to ensure the drains were kept clear also meant drivers did not recognise pools of standing liquid as a potential risk.
Breach
Tronox Pigment UK Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) and Section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
Penalty
Tronox Pigment UK Limited was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs.
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