When a near £1 million fine was not deterrent enough
What happened?
A 26 year-old man was working at a food manufacturing company and had to have his right arm surgically removed following an incident with a piece of machinery. The company was convicted and fined £858,000.
Just a year after this prosecution, a woman’s arm was caught in a conveyor belt at one of the company’s sites. This incident resulted in two open fractures and irreversible nerve damage in her hand. The woman required three surgeries and the placement of two metal plates for reconstruction.
Then, the following month, another incident occurred at the company’s second site, where a man was injured after getting trapped in a mechanical mixer. Neither the supervisor nor the on-call manager could be reached, leaving the employee stuck in the mixer for approximately 90 minutes before being rescued by the fire brigade. The man sustained an open fracture in his arm, along with multiple fractures and nerve damage in his left forearm.
Then, less than six months after the first incident, a woman suffered the severing of a finger after her hand became caught in an unprotected drive belt while operating a machine. She was also left with ongoing nerve damage to her hand.
Legal Outcome
The company, which produces bread and pastries for major retailers, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations. It was fined £573,344 and was ordered to pay £12,288 in prosecution costs.
What can we learn from what happened?
This is some collection of accidents, criminal convictions and fines – well over £1 million and counting. I do not know the size of the company concerned, but clearly the first £800,000 plus fine was not deterrent enough to prevent the second, third and fourth accidents from happening.
And all associated with the use of dangerous machinery, which is why the employment of guarding is not just necessary and important, but an absolute duty in law. It has to happen – there must be a barrier that keeps workers’ fingers and arms (and hair, sleeves, head etc etc) out of the way.
It is a shame that no action was taken to prevent the second and third of the more recent accidents, given that a pattern had already emerged after the first was only a year after the previous prosecution.
Source of Information
IOSH Magazine