When a fractured foot investigation led to a prosecution for breach of a different regulation
What happened?
A machine operator at a sheet metal fabricator company fractured his foot after tripping over a pallet of waste and dropping a 40kg rubbish drawer on to it.
The HSE investigated this incident and in doing so discovered the factory was ‘ridiculously noisy.’ According to the inspector, investigators needed to shout very loudly to make themselves heard. ‘Although workers had been given ear defenders, they had not received proper training and instruction in how to wear them,’ she said. The firm had previously been issued with warnings and advice about noise two years earlier.
The firm said in mitigation for the fracture incident that it did have a risk assessment in place for the machine, but it had been an oversight that the assessment did not cover cleaning. Simple changes had since been made so that the drawers did not have to be manually handled in order to empty them.
As for the noise issue, the inspector said: ‘Other employers similarly relying on hearing protection, and not properly considering what can be done to reduce noise exposure, should take note of this case.’
Legal Outcome
The sheet metal fabrications company was fined £2500 after pleading guilty before magistrates to breaching reg.6(2) of the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 by failing to take measures to reduce excessive machinery noise.
For the fracture incident, it was fined a further £2500 for admitting a breach of reg.3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 for failing to make a sufficient assessment of the risks to its employees’ safety.
What can we learn from what happened?
Noise related prosecutions are relatively rare, and rarer still when the incident being investigated was actually a manual handling one.
The inspector’s comments about employers taking note about reducing noise exposure are well made. Thankfully, new technology means that in many cases working environments, over time, have become less noisy (newspaper printing comes to mind), but nevertheless when loud noise cannot be avoided then appropriate measures need to be taken. The default control always seems to be ear defenders, but these rely on people to wear them, so a more reliable solution needs to be found, if reasonably practicable.
Source of Information
SHP In-Court