A general operative at a factory received serious injuries while cleaning an unguarded machine. Wayne Lello, who was working at Swancote Foods Ltd in Telford, was cleaning a conveyor-fed potato processing machine, when his hand came into contact with an in-running nip and was drawn into the machine.
This was the first time that he had worked on the machine and he was shown how to clean it by a supervisor. He was instructed to use a scouring pad to wipe the conveyor belt while the machine was in operation when the incident took place on 20th April 2007.
Mr Lello was unable to free himself once the incident had occurred and called out for help. One of his colleagues reversed the conveyor belt to free his hand after isolating the machine. Mr Lello was then rushed to hospital and treated for lacerations, friction burns and tendon damge to his elbow and left forearm. Due to the severity of the accident, he has lost feeling in part of his arm has been unable to return to work for 3 months.
The potential dangers of this way of working had been previously highlighted and these concerns were reported to management, however nothing was done to rectify the situation.
On 31st March this year, Swancote Foods Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.
A senior manager at the company, Edward Davies, was found not guilty of breaching the same offence.
The firm was very repentant about the incident, and has carried out risk assessments on the machine following the incident. They have also installed guarding to prevent access to the danger area, and introduced a safe system of work, which states that during cleaning, the machine must be isolated.
HSE inspector, David Kivlin, said: "Adequate safeguards on moving machinery and safe systems of working should always be in place. Employees had themselves spotted fundamental flaws in cleaning procedures and raised their concerns that insufficient safeguards existed for their protection, but senior management did not heed those warnings.
"The worker's injuries were sufficiently serious to cause some long-term discomfort and adversely affect his work capabilities. The machine should clearly have been properly guarded.
"This incident could have been avoided if the company had established a safe way of tackling the job and ensuring that competent persons are regularly assessing and minimising the associated risks."
This was the first time that he had worked on the machine and he was shown how to clean it by a supervisor. He was instructed to use a scouring pad to wipe the conveyor belt while the machine was in operation when the incident took place on 20th April 2007.
Mr Lello was unable to free himself once the incident had occurred and called out for help. One of his colleagues reversed the conveyor belt to free his hand after isolating the machine. Mr Lello was then rushed to hospital and treated for lacerations, friction burns and tendon damge to his elbow and left forearm. Due to the severity of the accident, he has lost feeling in part of his arm has been unable to return to work for 3 months.
The potential dangers of this way of working had been previously highlighted and these concerns were reported to management, however nothing was done to rectify the situation.
On 31st March this year, Swancote Foods Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.
A senior manager at the company, Edward Davies, was found not guilty of breaching the same offence.
The firm was very repentant about the incident, and has carried out risk assessments on the machine following the incident. They have also installed guarding to prevent access to the danger area, and introduced a safe system of work, which states that during cleaning, the machine must be isolated.
HSE inspector, David Kivlin, said: "Adequate safeguards on moving machinery and safe systems of working should always be in place. Employees had themselves spotted fundamental flaws in cleaning procedures and raised their concerns that insufficient safeguards existed for their protection, but senior management did not heed those warnings.
"The worker's injuries were sufficiently serious to cause some long-term discomfort and adversely affect his work capabilities. The machine should clearly have been properly guarded.
"This incident could have been avoided if the company had established a safe way of tackling the job and ensuring that competent persons are regularly assessing and minimising the associated risks."
No comments:
Post a Comment