Rochester food firm in court again for serious danger to workers

A Kent-based food manufacturer has been prosecuted for a second time for safety failings after a worker was injured using a machine with a guard that had been intentionally disabled.

Veetee Rice Ltd appeared before Maidstone Crown Court today (27 May) after an incident on 27 March 2012 when Chatham employee Khalil Ahmed had three fingers crushed at its factory on the Medway City Estate, Rochester.

In November 2009, the company was fined £140,000 for similar failings relating to unguarded machinery that led to the death of one of its employees.

Both cases were brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following investigations into the incidents.

The court heard Mr Ahmed was one of a number of employees working on a line where a machine was attaching labels to packets of rice. At one point, boxes were not lining up properly and Mr Ahmed was positioned to turn any boxes that needed it before being labelled.

However, he was standing at a point where a safety interlock guard on the conveyor rollers and labeller had been deliberately defeated. When the machine failed to stick a label to a box, it ended up on one of the unguarded rollers. Mr Ahmed tried to pull it off but his right hand became trapped, injuring three fingers.

HSE discovered the safety interlock mechanism had been intentionally defeated, allowing workers to get too close to the dangerous moving parts.

Veetee Rice Ltd., of Veetee House, Neptune Close, Medway City Estate, Rochester, was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £5,492 in costs after admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, thereby exposing workers to danger. An order of £500 in compensation against the company was made for Mr Ahmed.

Cumbrian oil firm fined after worker’s fall from tanker

A Cumbrian oil distributor has appeared in court for safety breaches after an employee fell from the top of a tanker. Wallace Oils, was prosecuted by theHSE following the incident at its depot in Langwathby on 12 November 2012.

Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard how David Strong, 39, from Carlisle, had returned to the depot following his morning delivery run and climbed onto the top of the tanker, which had no guard rail, to use a dipstick to check the remaining fuel level.

As he did so, he lost his balance and fell over three metres to the concrete floor below suffering a broken arm.

Equipment was in place to allow drivers to empty any remaining fuel from the tanker before refilling it. But the HSE investigation found it had become common practice for drivers at this small depot to climb onto vehicles to check the fuel levels as there was no gauge on the side of the tank and it was easier than emptying the tanker.

The court was told that Carrs Billington Agriculture (Sales) Ltd failed to properly assess the risk that employees would check the fuel in this way, and so failed to provide instructions on how the carry out the work safely. Mr Strong had been trained to use dipsticks by another driver at the depot and no one had ever told him not to use this method.

The company has since made clear in its procedures and training that any remaining fuel is emptied from the tankers when they return to the depot before they are refilled.

Carrs Billington Agriculture (Sales) Ltd, of Stanwix in Carlisle, was fined £9,330 and ordered to pay £360 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Roof fall changes worker’s life in seconds

A 54-year-old Leeds worker suffered life-changing injuries when he plunged nearly seven metres through an unsafe rooflight while installing solar power racking, a court in Bradford heard.

Peter Bettison, from Crossgates, sustained multiple injuries and needed to be under sedation for most of the 22 days he had to spend in hospital.

As well as a punctured lung and fractured skull, he suffered a head wound needing 13 staples, a broken collar bone, broken ribs along his left side, a fracture to his left hand, a broken left pelvis and chipped bones in his spine and hip. Mr Bettison returned to work eight months later but in a different role.

The fall through the rooflight, which lacked any protection, led to Mr Bettison’s employer, Duncan Plumbing, Heating and Electrics Ltd, being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for serious safety failings.

Bradford Magistrates heard that Mr Bettison and another employee were installing the solar panel racks on a farm building roof in Ilkley on the 28 November 2011.

Several had been successfully put in place, but after securing one further rack Mr Bettison stood up and unwittingly stepped on one of the rooflights. It instantly gave way, sending him crashing nearly seven metres to the concrete floor below.

The HSE investigation found that Duncan Plumbing, Heating and Electrics Ltd had carried out two site surveys in advance of the work, identified the presence of rooflights, and had loaded the information in their computer system for the design team. However, the firm then failed to take any action to protect either the workers from falls or the rooflights themselves.

HSE said a sign on the side of the barn warning of a fragile roof was also apparently disregarded.

Duncan Plumbing, Heating and Electrics Ltd., of Rudgate Business Park, Tockwith, York, was fined the maximum magistrates were able to impose – £20,000 – and ordered to pay £3,408 after pleading guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.