Tyneside Company Fined For Worker’s Crushed Hand

Last month, a firm in Tyneside – Radford HMY Group Limited – were in court facing charges under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This was following an incident in February last year, when a worker for the company got his hand trapped and crushed in a piece of machinery, which had had the safety guard deliberately disabled.

The accident happened as the injured worker had been attempting to reposition a component inside the machine, which had been jammed on a shelving assembly and welding machine. This caused the machine to stop working and there was an attempt to restart it. The problem was that once the issue was rectified and the component returned to its correct position, the machine immediately started up again, trapping his hand and crushing it between a solid piece of the machine and a moving robotic arm. His hand was horrifically crushed for 5 minutes before he could be freed and taken to hospital.

Since the accident in February, where the man sustained severe nerve damage he has been unable to regain the any strength or feeling.

As a result the company were investigated Health and Safety Executive, who found sufficient grounds to prosecute them for serious safety failings.

During the hearing, the court heard how the HSE had discovered that an interlocking device, which should have prevented access to the component the worker had been trying to fix, had been defective. As such the company had failed to ensure the safe working order of the machine, in breach of the Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The Radford HMY Group Limited, pleaded guilty to the breach and were fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £5,388.30 in costs.

The HSE have said that the injuries sustained by the injured worker were serious, but could have been preventable had the company upheld its duty and ensured the safety devices were properly maintained, in full working order and that procedures were in place to stop access to the dangerous areas of the machine.

To organise health & safety training for your business, call HST now on 0191 6440 332

This case is a clear indication of how easily workers, carrying out normal day to day maintenance tasks, can become injured, and how important it is to ensure health and safety is properly upheld in every working environment.

One of the best ways to reduce the number of avoidable accidents is to implement health and safety training, so your staff understands what is and is not expected of them in their working role, and to carry out regular risk assessments to gain a clear understanding of what could cause on accident in your workplace.