A Rotherham manufacturing firm has been prosecuted for safety
breaches after an employee’s fingers were crushed and severed in an
unguarded machine. The incident at Heaps, Arnold and Heaps Ltd, which
makes metal products, was investigated by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE), which found a vital safety device had been deliberately
removed from a 250-tonne press.
Rotherham Magistrates were today
recently (24 November 2014) that the 43-year-old worker, from Doncaster,
had been asked to work on the machine, which presses lead work-pieces
into required shapes. He was unaware a safety device, or interlock, had
been removed while he had been on holiday. The employee put his hand
into the machine during a routine cleaning operation but the press
activated without warning and his fingers were crushed by the ram. He
lost the index and middle fingers and suffered further crush injuries to
his left hand. He is undertaking a phased return to work but still
needs medical and physiotherapy treatment.
HSE’s investigation
identified the safety interlock had been deliberately removed so that
the machine could be operated while the protective guard was open. In
addition HSE found inadequate management systems and a lack of
competence relating to the required machinery guarding standards.
Heaps,
Arnold and Heaps Ltd, of Quintec Court,, Barbot Hall Industrial Estate,
Rotherham, was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £687 in costs after
admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Jane Fox said: “This
serious injury was entirely preventable. A safety device had been
deliberately taken off with the full knowledge of management. There were
no systems in place to check the safety of machines and this employee
was certainly not told that the machine had been left in a dangerous
condition. Safety devices, such as guards and interlocks, are installed
on machines for very good reason – and that is to prevent workers from
coming into contact inadvertently with dangerous moving parts.
Regulations and safety standards have been in place for many years on
this issue and are well-recognised by the majority of companies. Sadly,
this was not the case here and an employee of long-standing now has to
endure the consequences for the rest of his life.”
The CRS SafetyShare
service is the ideal, low-cost, high-value approach to improving health
and safety management and health and safety standards at smaller firms
such as this one. Firms can take as little or as much of a safety
professional’s time as they need for one low, fixed annual fee which is
payable in monthly instalments if you wish. We become management’s eyes
and ears to make sure good standards are achieved and maintained – much
cheaper and more sensible than paying fines. Contact CRS at advice@crsrsk.com
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