The Health & Safety Executive (“HSE”) reported recently that an employer had been fined more than half a million pounds after one of its employee’s lower arms was severed when it became entangled in a conveyor.
The employee worked as a blender operative and was trying to clear a blockage in a machine that was prone to suffering these blockages in the few months that it had been in operation. In the process of clearing the blockage the employee’s hand was pulled into the machine’s conveyor mechanism, severing his arm below the elbow. Not surprisingly, the employee was unable to return to work for two years and had to adapt all aspects of his life due to the life changing injury that he suffered.
The blockage clearing process involved pulling out a manual slide plate, removing the accumulated material and resetting a cut-off switch. Despite not being adequately trained in clearing blockages within the machine, the HSE found that employees routinely did this themselves if it could be done quickly. The risk assessment for operating the conveyor was not reviewed upon installation of the new conveyor, and no system existed to verify the presence of guards and safety features before use.
Employers are required to have systems in place that allow maintenance on work equipment to be carried out safely. That includes preventing them from accessing dangerous parts of machinery when they are not trained in how to do it safely. Machinery should also be in safe mode before any repairs are carried out to prevent accidents from happening. Employers are further required to assess the risks of their maintenance work to identify potential hazards and learn how to avoid injuries that might occur due to changing and unexpected circumstances.
An employer’s duty to carry out such risk assessments is an ongoing requirement. Reviews should be carried out on a regular basis, for example, to ensure that any changes in workplace activities or arrangements are taken into account both before and after their implementation.
Finally, maintenance work should only be carried out by those who are competent to do the work and have been provided with the necessary training.
How can we help you?
Faqir Nawaz has been specialising in personal injury work for some 24 years and has a special interest in accidents at work. If you or a member of your family or someone that you know has been severely injured as a result of a workplace incident, then please do get in touch as Faqir or another member of our expert legal team will be happy to advise you further. You can call us for free on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form for us to give you a call back at a time convenient for you. All initial discussions are free of charge and completely confidential. Your employer will not be notified that you are seeking legal advice unless you decide to go ahead with making a claim.
