Risk, Health and Safety Information

Halifax company in court on safety charge

A Halifax firm that makes shopfitting equipment has been prosecuted after one of its employees had his arm crushed when it was drawn into an unguarded machine.

The 35 year-old man from Siddal, who does not want to be named, suffered extensive damage to his right arm in the incident at Design and Display Ltd in Elland on 7 February 2011. He will never regain full use of his arm and has been unable to work since.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and today (6 February) prosecuted Design and Display at Halifax Magistrates' Court for a serious breach of safety legislation.

Magistrates were told that in the week before the incident there had been a problem with chains coming off the machine's rollers and maintenance engineers had been called out to replace them.
When the problem recurred, the worker again called maintenance and then set the machine running and looked through a slot at the front. He thought he saw some tape on the rollers that would damage the board that was passed between them. He leant in to try to remove it but his arm was drawn from fingers to shoulder through the 15 cm gap between the top and bottom rollers.

The man, a father of two, was in hospital for two weeks and has undergone eight operations including skin grafts. His elbow has only limited movement.

HSE found the company had failed to provide suitable guarding for the machine to prevent workers from accessing dangerous moving parts.

Design and Display Ltd, of Lowfields Business Park, Elland, West Yorkshire, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,613 in costs after admitting breaching the Provision and Use of Work Regulations 1998.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Rachel Brittain said:

"Design and Display failed to ensure that their machinery, which cuts and shapes large wall panels, was properly guarded. Had they put in place simple but effective safeguards then this incident could have been avoided and this worker would not now be facing the rest of his life with a permanent disability.

"Workers in machine shops, engineering works and factories can be put at serious risk because their employers fail to install or maintain safety devices on machines.

"British employers would save 250,000 work days each year if they could just keep people safe on machinery. For injured workers, the results can be permanent and life-changing."