Court Cases

Court Cases Plastics firm in court after worker severs fingers in saw. A Birmingham plastics firm has been fined after an employee had four fingers severed in a circular saw. He stopped the machine to clear a blockage and the saw blade automatically moved from its operating position to its maintenance position in the base of the machine. However, because of its position in the base of the machine the worker did not realise it was still rotating. As he attempted to clear the blockage, his left hand came into contact the blades, severing four fingers. He has been unable to return to work. Kalsi Plastics (UK) Ltd, of Tomey Road, Tyseley, was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £2,418 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Lincolnshire Field Products Ltd fined £200,000.00 following fatality Farming business from Spalding was prosecuted by the HSE following the death of a 58-year-old farm manager, who was killed when he was hit by a forklift truck. Peter Barney, of Broadgate, Weston, was walking from his car across the yard at Middle Farm on Mill Marsh Road in Moulton Seas End when he was struck on 31 October 2010. His employer was prosecuted after an HSE investigation found the company did not have effective measures in place to allow vehicles and pedestrians to move around the site safely. Lincoln Crown Court heard on 3 January that Mr Barney, who had worked for the firm for 38 years, was making his way to a potato grading shed when he crossed the path of a forklift being driven by a farm employee. He died at the scene of the incident after being crushed by the vehicle. Safety consultants had carried out a risk assessment in 2003 which highlighted the need for pedestrians and vehicles to be segregated, but the firm did not fully implement these findings. Workers were allowed to park their cars in areas of the site, which meant they walked across the path of workplace vehicles when walking to, or from, their cars. Some workers used the same entrance to the grading shed as the forklift truck. Lincolnshire Field Products Ltd, of Wool Hall Farm, Wykeham, Spalding, was fined a total of £165,000 and ordered to pay £39,500 in costs after pleading guilty to section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. After the hearing, HSE Inspector Neil Ward, said: "If Lincolnshire Field Products Ltd had taken effective steps to keep employees safe, Mr Barney would still be alive today. "Employees on foot were using the same doorway as the forklift truck, which meant there was a significant risk of them being struck. "The company should have managed the yard so that people and vehicles were not sharing the same space. Sadly, Mr Barney lost his life because this simple procedure wasn't in place." A groundworks company in Scotland has been fined £32,000.00 for safety failings A 20-year-old worker had to have a leg amputated when it was crushed during the construction of Griffin Wind Farm in Perth and Kinross. Gregor Steele, from Perthshire, suffered severe injuries when his left leg was crushed between a tractor pulling a heavy water bowser and the bucket of a loading shovel on 3 September 2010. On the 19 December, Perth Sheriff Court heard that Mr Steele had positioned the tractor to empty the bowser and used the handbrake. There was no parking brake as it had been disabled by Gallagher Groundwork's mechanic around five months previously. As he stood between the tractor and the loading shovel, the tractor was dragged backwards by the weight of the bowser, pinning him between the two. Mr Steele was airlifted to hospital where he underwent a nine-hour operation in an attempt to save his leg. However, despite a second operation, this proved unsuccessful and his leg was amputated above the knee on 10 September 2010. The court heard that between 13 August and 3 September 2010 the company failed to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for the work being carried out and failed to ensure that the machinery being used was appropriate for the work, was properly maintained and that safety equipment was fully operative. The HSE concluded that Gallagher Groundworks had failed to ensure that the tractor was capable of safely towing the weight of the loaded water bowser, or ensure its 'parking lock' braking system was working correctly. The tractor had a maximum towable mass of three tonnes, well below the weight of the full bowser, estimated to be around 12 tonnes. In addition, the bowser's drum brakes were in a poor state of repair and could not be fitted to the tractor because the connecting hose was missing. Gallagher Groundworks of The Yard, Commissioner Street, Crieff, was fined £32,000 after pleading guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the HSWA 1974. No costs are awarded in Scotland. Mr Steele was unable to work for two years following the incident. He has since been fitted with a prosthetic limb and has returned to work for Gallaghers using an automatic tractor. Following the case, HSE inspector Kerry Elliot, said: "This was an entirely avoidable incident and the failures by Gallagher Groundworks led directly to this life-changing injury sustained by a young man, aged just 20 at the time of the incident. "The equipment was not suitable in combination for the work it was being put to and furthermore was poorly maintained with the parking lock actually being disabled rather than repaired. "Mr Steele will endure the after effects of this incident for the rest of his life."