The UK division of a global packaging company has been fined
for safety failings after a long-serving worker lost a finger in an unguarded
chain on a machine.
The 54-year-old from Gosport, who does not want to be named,
severed the first finger on his right hand to the bone in the incident at
Huhtamaki UK Ltd in Gosport on 4 February last year. It was amputated the
following day after surgeons were unable to save it.
Huhtamaki specialises in food and drink packaging and
operates 60 manufacturing sites worldwide, including the Hampshire factory. The
UK operation was prosecuted on 30th January 2014 by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found that more could and
should have been done to make the machine safe.
Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard the injured worker, who
has worked for the company for 34 years, was part of a two-man team feeding
plastic sheets into the machine after a product change.
As he worked from the side of the machine to feed a sheet
onto a chain that would draw it inside – described as a spiked bicycle chain –
his finger was caught between the chain and a roller.
HSE identified that had the feeding line been properly
guarded to prevent access to dangerous parts then the incident could have been
avoided.
The court was told that Huhtamaki UK Ltd failed to fully
assess and identify the risks posed by the lack of guarding, and take
appropriate action.
Huhtamaki UK Ltd, of Rowner Road, Gosport, Hampshire, was
fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £3,088 in costs after being found guilty of a
single breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Russell Beckett said:
“Incidents of this kind are all too common in the
manufacturing sector, and the onus is on employers to ensure appropriate
guarding is in place at all times to protect workers.
“The company had a previously good health and safety record,
but on this occasion it fell below the minimum legal standards for safety and
an employee was badly injured as a result.
“The spiked feed chain was easily accessible from the side
of the machine, and it was a dangerous moving part that posed a clear risk.” NEBOSH
National General Certificate in Occupational Health & Safety – IOSH Working Safely
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