Waste recycling firm prosecuted over worker’s crush injuries
A waste recycling firm has been fined after a Leicester worker suffered severe crush injuries in an unsafe machine.
The 22-year-old, was clearing a blockage from a cardboard baler at Bakers Waste Services Ltd’s Enderby site on 27 January 2014 when his left leg became trapped between the static framework and moving bed.
It took firefighters three hours to free him. He was in hospital for four weeks and underwent three operations to insert metal rods and screws between his knee and ankle. He also required skin and muscle grafts, and in some places the bones in his leg were so severely damaged they are now missing.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the company had failed to maintain guards and other protective devices on the baler. Although guards were present they did not close properly meaning interlocking devices and the electrical control circuit of the machine were not properly activated.
While the worker was clearing the blockage he inadvertently activated the baler as there was also no safe system of work for safely isolating the power supply.
Bakers Waste Services Ltd, of Melton Road, Thurmaston, Leicester was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,577 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Berian Price said:
“The incident was entirely preventable. Bakers Waste Services fell below the standards expected of a competent employer, standards which are well publicised and accepted within the industry. The safety devices on the baler had been defective for a period of time yet it took an horrific incident before they took action to remedy the problem.
“Incidents arising from dangerous parts of machinery are unfortunately commonplace despite freely available guidance. Around 12 people a year are killed and a further 40,000 injured due to incidents involving machinery.”
Guidance of the safe use of machinery can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/
Produce company in court after reversing forklifts injure workers
An East Yorkshire produce company has been ordered to pay more than £46,000 after two workers were seriously injured by reversing forklift trucks in separate incidents at its vegetable processing factory in Chicksands, Bedfordshire.
The first occurred at MyFresh Prepared Produce, at Chicksands, on 15 January 2014 as warehouse team leader Chris Bottesch, 43, of Flitwick, was talking to another forklift driver in the goods yard.
He sustained multiple fractures to his right leg, hip and foot after being trapped between two forklifts. He was forced to undergo surgery to have metal pins and plates inserted into his injured leg, and also suffered nerve damage that has left him with drop foot.
Mr Bottesch was off work for a year, before returning to an administrative role as his injuries meant he was no longer able to cope with the physical demands of his former position.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident found there were minimal restrictions on vehicle and pedestrian activity in the goods yard at Chicksands. There were no specified vehicle and pedestrian routes, despite the area being cluttered and busy, and the supervision of yard activities was found to be inadequate.
As such, Hessle-based MyFresh was served with an Improvement Notice to make changes to improve safety.
The notice required improvements to be made by 29 April, however, six days before the compliance date – on 23 April – there was a second incident in the same yard.
This time a 44 year-old quality control technician, from Bedford, who does not want to be named, was struck by a reversing forklift truck while inspecting raw material. He suffered a fracture to his lower left leg.
The court was told that both incidents could have been prevented had work in the goods yard, principally vehicle movements, been better controlled and managed.
MyFresh Prepared Produce Ltd, of Livingstone Road, Hessle, East Yorkshire, was fined a total of £38,000 and ordered to pay £8,320 in costs as well as a victim surcharge of £120 after pleading guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.
Firm in court for unsafe refurbishment work
A construction company has been fined for unsafe refurbishment work that exposed workers to the risk of serious injuries.
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) established that safety standards were woefully lacking at a property undergoing an extensive overhaul in Newton Avenue, Acton, between July 2013 to January 2014.
A basement was excavated without any form of propping or temporary works to provide vital support, and later in the project the risk of falls from height was also found to be poorly managed.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (26 March) that FN Property Limited also failed to hold any valid Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance for its workforce, which is a legal requirement to support workers in the event of an incident occurring.
HSE twice served Prohibition Notices to stop work linked to the refurbishment during visits in January 2014 to prevent the risk of falls from height.
The first visit followed a complaint from workers at the site about unsafe excavations where there was a serious risk of collapse.
FN Property Limited, of Askew Road, Shepherd’s Bush, W12, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay a further £1,213 in costs after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Pete Collingwood commented:
“The dangers posed by unsupported excavations are well known in the construction industry, and it should have been abundantly clear that the provision and use of shoring was a basic necessity.
“Later in the project measures in place to protect against falls from height were found to be inadequate on two separate visits to site. To compound this, the contractor had no Employers Liability Insurance in the event of an accident occurring.
“Every employer should ensure that workers have the basic right to work in a safe environment. FN Property Ltd fell some way short in this regard.”
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