Firm fined after a 22-year-old fencing worker loses thumb and finger

A County Durham-based timber processing and haulage firm has been fined for putting workers at risk after an employee’s hand was badly injured by a poorly guarded saw. Richard Eggleston, 22, from Bishop Auckland, was working with a colleague, operating a large band rack saw to produce fencing posts from logs when the incident occurred on 4 May 2012.

GLT (Durham) Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into the incident at Aptec Enterprise Park in West Auckland found there was nothing protecting workers from the rear edge of the saw’s blade.

Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard today (29 January) that as Mr Eggleston was feeding wood into the saw, his right hand came into contact with the blade. He lost his thumb and index finger and sustained a further deep cut to his middle finger.

The court was told that the age of the equipment – having been manufactured prior to 1960 – was no excuse for the company not assessing and upgrading the guarding to ensure that dangerous parts were adequately protected. As a result of his injuries, Mr Eggleston was unable to return to work for eight months and continues to have problems with movement and grip in his hand for which he is undergoing physiotherapy treatment.

GLT (Durham) Limited, of Darlington Road in West Auckland, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in costs plus £120 victim surcharge after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Michael Kingston said: “This young man lost his thumb and index finger and continues to have mobility and grip problems in his hand due to an entirely preventable incident. Had GLT (Durham) Ltd ensured that the machinery was suitably guarded then this incident would never have happened. Serious, life-affecting injuries are all too common in woodworking industries and the sawmill industry in particular has a major injury rate which is over two and a half times that of general manufacturing.”

More information about sawmill and woodworking safety is available here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/sawmills.htm

Candidate of the month February 2014

CRS would like to congratulate Adie Summerscales on being selected as our Delegate of the Month for February 2014

Adie is currently employed as a Maintenance Supervisor (Anglia) for Balfour Beatty Rail and attended our NEBOSH Fire Safety & Risk Management Course held at Marks Tey, Nr  Colchester. Adie said “I liked the course duration – short intensive courses suite my style of learning” when asked for further comments about style of delivery and structure of lessons Adie said “ The Style of delivery showed that the Tutor had a wealth of experienced based knowledge, with PowerPoint visual, as well as the occasional video. Structure of lessons – I particularly appreciated a prompt start to classes, especially at the start of each day”.

Adie is married to wife Lucy and has three children Owen (8), Joe (6) and Theo (3). Our Tutor for this course was Andy Newborough.

Adie will now be entered in to our prize draw and stands the chance to win a £50 M&S voucher. If you would like to be nominated for our Delegate of the Month and appear in our monthly enews please contact either your tutor or Ros Stacey – rs@crsrisk.com

Myths - Customers must take the box when buying shoes

When buying some shoes, a customer refused the shoe box offered by the assistant. Replying, the assistant told them that "their health and safety man says we have to make the customers have a box". The customer felt that the shoe shop probably want to get rid of their boxes to avoid excess waste.

Here at CRS, we agree with the findings of the HSE myth-buster challenge panel.  This is a clear case of the health and safety excuse being trotted out to cover up a desire to get customers to take the shoes in boxes to avoid the shop having to dispose of the boxes themselves. This is not a health and safety issue but poor communication and poor customer service.

1,400 UK soldiers to lose jobs in latest round of Army cuts

About 1,400 soldiers are to lose their jobs in the Army's fourth and final round of redundancies as part of defence cuts announced in 2010.

The defence secretary will announce the details of units affected to MPs later.

Soldiers currently serving or about to serve in Afghanistan will be exempt, the Ministry of Defence said.

The Army is cutting the number of regulars from 102,000 in 2010 to 82,000 by 2017, but seeking to increase the number of reservists.

The plans also involve cutting the Royal Navy from 35,500 regulars in 2010 to 30,000 in 2020 and the RAF from 40,130 regulars in 2010 to 35,000 in 2020.

CRS an approved CTP (Career Training Partnership) training provider has seen many service leavers who have contacted them for advice and help on training in readiness for a new life in Civvy street. Ros Stacey – UK Sales Director CRS said “this latest round of redundancies is going to hit the service men and women really hard, they have given their lives completely to the Armed Forces and many hoped to be serving our country for many years as it becomes a way of life for them and their families. To have their chosen career path suddenly halted by redundancy does “knock them for six”, many don’t really have a life outside the forces”. CRS have over the last 12 months trained over 200 service and ex –service personnel giving help and advice on job prospects, training courses and qualifications required to enter in to a civilian life. Ros went on to say “Many ex-service men and women are not aware that they have up to 10 years after their last day of service to apply for the funded training grant (Enhanced Learning Credits) offered to all military personnel as part of their resettlement package”. If health, safety and environment are sectors you wish to work in then contact CRS at rs@crsrisk.com or call our team on 01283 509175 and we can offer help and advice in these sectors.

Devon firm fined after man seriously injured at recycling plant

A Devon company has been fined after a man was seriously injured by a reversing vehicle at a recycling centre in Exeter.

Exeter Magistrates’ court heard today (20 January) that Leases Limited hired the telehandler in September 2012, but did not have it fitted with a reversing camera. This failure to ensure that the driver’s direct field of vision was adequate seriously compromised safety.

On 4 October Marvon Van Rijk and four other pedestrian workers were sorting through recycling waste at the company’s site at Matford Business Park in Exeter when he was hit by the reversing telehandler. He suffered serious and life threatening leg injuries, requiring immediate emergency surgery and ongoing surgical treatment.

Leases Limited were prosecuted following an almost identical incident at the same site in October 2011.

Leases Limited of  Manaton Close, Matford Business Park, Exeter pleaded guilty to beaching Regulation 28(e) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. They were fined £33,000 and ordered to pay £13,389 in costs.

CRS comments: This unfortunate accident could have been avoided, Leases Limited had already had one incident two years before and should have put in to place safety measures to avoid a repeat accident. Visit www.crsrisk.com and find out how we can help avoid this happening to you.