Manufacturer fined after worker was crushed by door – Company fined £20,000

A Worcestershire-based manufacturer was fined after a worker nearly lost his life when a door collapsed and pinned him to a baler.

Hereford Magistrates’ Court heard that on 5 May 2015, two maintenance workers were replacing the bottom of a heavy sectional door at the factory. While removing the hinges and brackets the door collapsed, pinning one of the workers between it and a baler that was next to the door.

The worker suffered serious injuries including broken ribs and asphyxiation which led to a loss of consciousness for eight hours. He has since made a full recovery. ^[1]

HSE investigated the incident and found that managers had failed to recognise the risks involved in the maintenance work that was taking place. There was no appropriate equipment, instruction or training provided to the workers to ensure the method of work was safe.

Essential Supply Products Limited of Enigma Business Park in Malvern pleaded guilty to Section 2(1) Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £2,714.10 in costs

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Distillery blaze left 21-year-old worker engulfed in flames

A distillery in Oldbury has been fined after an employee was engulfed in flames in a fire that destroyed the warehouse and its contents.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how ethyl acetate (highly flammable liquid) was being transferred from a bulk storage tank into an intermediate bulk container when an employee was engulfed in flames. The 21-year-old sustained twenty percent burns to his head, neck and hands.

The fire, at the Alcohol Limited distillery on Crosswell road in Oldbury, destroyed the warehouse and caused damage to nearby cars and houses. West Mercia Fire and Rescue Service were called to bring the fire under control.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 26 November 2012 found that the most likely source of ignition was a discharge of static electricity generated by the transfer of the liquid.

There was poor maintenance of pipework and associated valves. There was a failure to competently inspect the equipment or monitor the systems of work.

Alcohols Limited, of Charringtons House, The Causeway, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £270,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,009.

After the hearing HSE inspector Kieron Jones said: “Companies that fail to ensure the integrity of their safety critical equipment place their employees, members of the public, emergency services and their entire livelihood at risk of serious harm.

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Firm sentenced after worker’s arm severed

A Bristol based manufacturer of concrete products has been fined after a worker’s arm was torn off when it was pulled into the rotating tail pulley of a conveyor belt.

Bristol Crown Court heard the injured man was making adjustments to a misaligned conveyor belt at Concrete Fabrications Ltd plant in Henbury, Bristol on 18 May 2015.

The court heard that to do this, the man who does not wish to be named, had to adjust tensioning rods which were located inside the machine’s guards, in close proximity to the conveyor belt and rotating tail pulley.

The worker noticed that aggregate had built up on the tensioning rod and he tried to knock off the material with a hammer so he could use a spanner to adjust the rod. However, the hammer was dragged into the rotating machinery along with the employee’s arm which was severed between the shoulder and the elbow.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), prosecuting told the court that Concrete Fabrications Ltd should have had adequate guards on dangerous parts of machinery.

It said clear procedures should exist regarding maintenance and adjustments of machinery and arrangements should be in place to ensure that machinery is not run without the necessary guarding in place, and that clear isolation and lock off procedures exist.

An unsafe system of work existed for the maintenance of machinery, in so much that the dangerous moving parts of the machine were exposed during maintenance operations. A sufficient risk assessment would have identified the risks associated with tracking conveyor belts, and identified appropriate control measures.

Concrete Fabrications Ltd of Cole Road, St Phillips, Bristol, United Kingdom, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 and was fined £100,000 with £7758 costs awarded to HSE.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Matthew Tyler said: “Company’s need to ensure the risks associated with maintenance tasks are adequately assessed, and effectively controlled, through adequate guarding of dangerous parts of machinery, and the existence of clear robust procedures in respect of maintenance and adjustments of machinery, including isolation and lock off requirements. The consequences of not doing this are clear to see here today.”

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Annual workplace fatality statistics published

The long term trend has seen the rate of fatalities more than halve over the last 20 years. However, provisional figures indicate that 144 people were killed while at work in 2015/2016 – up from 142 in 2014/5.

The Health and Safety Executive has called on all sectors to learn lessons to ensure workers return home safe from work.

Martin Temple, HSE Chair said:

“One death at work or life needlessly shortened, is one too many and behind every statistic lies a real story of loss and heartbreak and families left to grieve.

“Britain has one of the best health and safety systems in the world, but we should always be looking to improve and to prevent incidents that cost lives.

“This year HSE travelled the country asking industry representatives, employers, unions, workers and others what they could do to help GB work well. The response was hugely encouraging and I would like to ask people to deliver on the commitments made, that will help keep Britain’s workers alive.”

The new figures show the rate of fatal injuries in key industrial sectors:

·         Forty three workers died in construction, the same as the average for the previous five years.

·         In agriculture there were 27 deaths (compared to the five-year average of 32).

·         In manufacturing there were 27 deaths (compared to five-year average 22), but this figure includes three incidents that resulted in a total of eight deaths.

·         There were six fatal injuries to workers in waste and recycling, compared to the five-year average of seven, but subject to considerable yearly fluctuation.

·         There were also 103 members of the public fatally injured in accidents connected to work in 2015/16, of which 36 (35 percent) related to incidents occurring on railways.

Comparisons of fatal injuries by country or region are based on where the accident occurred. After taking industrial composition into account, those regions and countries with seemingly higher rates are not (statistically) different to the rest of GB. In 2015/16 the highest fatal injury rates across all countries and regions were Wales (0.93 per 100,000 workers); Scotland (0.60); and Yorkshire and the Humber (0.58). Due to the relatively small numbers and to reduce some of the yearly fluctuation, when averaged across a five-year time period to 2014/15 those regions with the highest fatal injury rates were also Wales (0.81), Scotland (0.73) and Yorkshire and the Humber (0.70).

The statistics again confirm the UK to be one of the safest places to work in Europe, having one of the lowest rates of fatal injuries to workers in leading industrial nations.

HSE has also released the latest available figures on deaths from asbestos-related cancer. Mesothelioma, one of the few work related diseases where deaths can be counted directly, contracted through past exposure to asbestos killed 2,515 in Great Britain in 2014 compared to 2,556 in 2013.

A more detailed assessment of the data will be provided as part of the annual Health and Safety Statistics release in early November.

Further information on these statistics can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm

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Steel giants Tata fined almost £2 million

Tata Steel has been fined £1.98 million after two workers at its Corby plant suffered serious hand injuries.

A 26-year-old employee lost two-thirds of his left hand, and his middle and ring fingers, while trying to clear a blockage on a steel tube manufacturing line with unsuitable guarding, Northampton Crown Court heard. In a separate incident, a 52-year-old team leader lost part of his little finger after his left hand was caught during refresher training, again in an inadequately guarded machine.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that inappropriate steps were taken to guard users from dangerous parts of the machinery involved in the incidents, which happened in September 2014 and February 2015 respectively.

Mark Austin, an inspector at the HSE, said: “Guarding of dangerous parts of machinery is a fundamental of ensuring workers’ safety. HSE will not hesitate to hold those accountable who do not fulfil their legal obligations, especially if that results in someone receiving life-changing injuries.”

Tata UK Limited pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined a total of £1.98 million (£185,000 for the first incident, plus £1.8m for the second) and ordered to pay costs totaling £22,500.

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