Risk, Health and Safety Information

Equipment supplier fined after County Durham worker's hand severed

A worker from County Durham had his hand severed while carrying out maintenance on glass cutting machinery a court heard.

The 34-year-old maintenance technician, who has asked not to be named, was investigating a fault on a new tilt table with a colleague at the UK’s largest glass manufacturer Solaglas.

Lisec (UK and Ireland) Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at Solaglas (Architectural) Ltd, in Bishop Auckland on 12 September 2007.

The table was part of a glass cutting line manufactured and installed by Lisec (UK and Ireland) Ltd at the Solaglas plant just four months earlier in May 2007.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court heard the injured maintenance technician from Esh Winning, Durham was on his hands and knees while trying to ascertain the cause of the fault and had activated the emergency stop.

Suspended above his right wrist was a large laminated glass sheet measuring six metres by three metres and weighing around almost a ton. The worker had his right arm extended with a mirror in his hand so he could check the status of a sensor relating to the release of the glass onto the table.

But when a colleague moved past another sensor on the tilt table the glass sheet was released, falling onto the maintenance technician’s wrist and severing his hand.

Surgeons reattached his hand with partial success and he was off work for several months while recovering from his injuries.

An HSE investigation found that there were faults within the programme controlling the movement of the glass as it allowed the glass sheet to be released, even when an emergency stop had been activated and that this fault was exacerbated by the installation of the new tilt table and the failure to integrate it properly with the existing equipment.

Although the incident happened to a Solaglas employee at their premises, it occurred due to a fault on a new glass cutting line which had been installed by Lisec (UK and Ireland) Ltd. Lisec was prosecuted as they had not complied with the legal duties imposed on installers of machinery.

Lisec (UK and Ireland) Ltd, of Springfield Industrial Estate, Telford, Shropshire, was today (29 May) found guilty following a month-long trial to breaching Section 6(3) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £150,000.

After the case, HSE Inspector Martin Baillie said:

"This horrific incident should never have happened. Once he had put the table into an emergency stop condition, it should not have been possible to release the glass.

"Installers of machinery need to ensure that new equipment is compatible with the existing equipment and that the complete line complies with the essential safety requirements. That includes ensuring machinery is unable to move suddenly when an emergency stop has been activated."