Unguarded Machinery Results in Fines after HSE Visit

In May 2012, the Health and Safety Executive paid a visit to two floral foam manufacturing units on the Crowther Industrial Estate in Tyne and Wear, both of which are owned and operated by manufacturers Smithers-Oasis UK Ltd.

The visit was in response to an accident at one of the premises, in which a worker suffered an injury to her left hand after it became trapped in a piece of machinery she was operating. The accident resulted in her having a finger broken and another partially amputated, and, after an investigation, the HSE found that there were no protective measures in place to stop her or other workers from getting too close to the dangerous moving parts of the machine.

Following this finding, the company had a piece of guarding fitted to restrict access, but on a further visit the HSE found that this was still not adequate or effective. They were served with an enforcement notice to improve the guards, which they took on board and complied with.

However, later in the same year, the HSE carried out a further general inspection on the company’s two premises and had serious concerns about a substantial amount of other machinery. They found that several pieces of machinery had similar guarding defects to the milling machine, which could cause serious injury to workers.

Again, they served an Improvement Notice requiring immediate action to resolve the problem and avoid future accidents and, again, the notice was complied with quickly.

Despite the machinery being fixed with effective guards, the HSE inspector came to the conclusion that for a number of months the employees had been put at unnecessary risk of serious of injury. Smithers-Oasis UK Ltd had failed in their duty to protect them by not preventing access to the dangerous moving parts of a number of machines, despite the injury suffered by the milling machine worker earlier in the year and the numerous visits from the HSE.

The HSE Inspector responsible, Paul Miller, brought the case before Sunderland Magistrates’ Court on the 25^th April 2014, and the company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

Inspector Paul Miller believed the repetitive failings could have easily led to further and more serious injuries to the company’s employees, ranging from cuts to more amputations and even severe crush injuries. It stated it was simple a matter of good luck that no further incidents had occurred.

The court agreed with Mr Miller, and Smithers-Oasis UK Ltd was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay an additional £6,630 in costs.