A sawmill has been fined after a worker injured his finger when his hand encountered the moving parts of a machine.
Whilst the saw was in operation the employee proceeded to check the saw as to why it was not operating correctly. His glove became entangled in the moving part of the saw causing him to sever his index finger on his left hand.
A HSE investigation found that the company failed to ensure that access to the moving parts of the saw wore prevented using safety guards and that they failed to provide any or adequate training to the operators.
Truro Sawmills of Pendale, Penhallow, Truro, Cornwall pleaded guilty of breaching Regulation of Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) and Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,594.
The HSE said “Those in control have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers.”
Employers must ensure that they select and use the appropriate equipment for their activities, that they use the safety guards, they carry out a full risk assessment to identify the hazards (which is communicated to the staff), and that staff are trained to operate machinery correctly and safely.
Coolzone Air Conditioning Limited
The director of an air conditioning company has been sentenced after a worker sustained a broken back when he fell five metres to the ground.
On 24th October 2019, an employee was required to access the roof of a building to replace an existing air conditioning unit, despite having never worked on the roof before. Having accessed the roof, he fell through a rooflight, landing 5m below. He suffered a broken back and has not returned to work since.
HSE found that Daniel Biagioni, the company director, had visited the site a month before and the risk assessment identified the rooflight as a fall risk. But despite this risk, he failed to implement any control measures he had identified and instructed a young and inexperienced apprentice to carry out the task without any supervision.
Mr Biagioni pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and received a custodial sentence of 6months suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community service and ordered to pay costs of £4,886.
The above 2 cases highlight the risk faced by employers within the workplace environment and the consequences of not protecting staff as far as reasonably practicable in accordance with health safety law and guidance. It is prudent for employers to take appropriate health and safety guidance to prevent problems from happening in the first place. For health and safety enquires contact the Quest Cover advice service on 01455 852028.
