News
Health & Safety Update (November 2009)
Guard that machine
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said that employers
operating machinery need to ensure that risks are fully assessed
and that potentially dangerous moving parts are suitably guarded.
The warning follows the prosecution of a North Wales company for
two separate incidents on the same machine in which employees'
hands were trapped, causing them serious injury.
Chemical manufacturing company Warwick International Group Ltd
of Mostyn, Holywell, Flintshire pleaded guilty to two charges under
section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974 when the
company appeared before magistrates in Mold on Friday (2 October).
The company was fined £12,000 for the first offence, £14,000 for
the second offence and ordered to pay costs of £1,947.20.
In the first incident, on 20 December 2007, an employee's gloved
hand was trapped in the rollers of a bagging machine, causing
severe friction burns on his hand which later required skin grafts.
After this incident, the company carried out a review and risk
assessment but while the danger of the powered conveyor and idler
rollers was identified, the remedial action put in place did not
prevent the risk. The company risk assessment also did not
identify guarding as a requirement.
Less than a month later, on 13 January 2008, another employee
also got his hand trapped in the rollers and suffered friction
burns and tendon damage to his hand and multiple breaks to his ring
finger.
The company clearly failed to learn from the first incident and
it took a second similar incident before the necessary guarding was
put in place on this machine. Their risk assessment was not
adequate and both incidents could have been avoided.
Contact the advice line or your dedicated consultant if you
require information or instruction regarding machinery
guarding.