A factory in Ashton-under-Lyne in the UK has been fined £26,000 (approx. $39,500 or €32,000) after one of its workers suffered major injuries when he became trapped in rotating machinery.
The employee was pulled into a 14-foot-high metal-shaping machine when his overalls became entangled. He was working at ADA Machining Services Ltd on Kayley Industrial Estate, Richmond Street, on 2 January 2008.
The machine which injured the worker at ADA Machining Services Ltd
The 53-year-old from Manchester, who has asked not to be named, lost one finger on his right hand and badly injured another. He suffered a dozen broken ribs, a cracked breast bone and friction burns to the left hand side of his body.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the company had failed to comply with a health and safety law requiring it to prevent access to any dangerous parts of machinery.
ADA Machining pleaded guilty to breaching relevant UK regulations (Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998). The company was ordered to pay £6,220 towards the costs of the prosecution in addition to the fine at Manchester Crown Court on 22 June 2010.
David Norton, the investigating inspector for HSE, said:
“One of ADA’s employees suffered devastating injuries and is still unable to return to work, more than two years after he was trapped in the machine.
It’s vital that companies take action to protect employees who are required to operate potentially dangerous machinery. Otherwise workers will continue to be injured in the future.
The company knew that rotating parts in the machinery were potentially dangerous. If it had installed guard on the machine, as the law requires, it would have prevented someone being seriously injured.”
There were 32 deaths and more than 22,000 serious injuries in the manufacturing sector in Great Britain last year.
Source: Health Safety Executive, United Kingdom