A migrant worker suffered life-changing injuries after her leg and ankle got caught in an unguarded conveyor system at a farm in Dunblane.
Wanda Lustig, 34, was working as a general farmworker at Townheard farm in Greenloaning near Braco, Perthshire, when the incident took place on 18 October 2011.
Miss Lustig and a colleague were working inside a grain-drying building at the farm, which was owned by Blackford Farms Ltd. The building was formed by a series of 15 grain silos, laid out in two rows, with a narrow corridor at ground level separating the two rows and a high walkway on the fourth floor of the building, across the top of the silos. The corridor housed a chain and flight conveyor, into which grain could be emptied from the silos and transported around the building.
She was on hand in the building to watch her colleague clean an empty silo and to telephone for help if he got into any difficulty. While there, she heard the chain in the conveyor making a strange sound and decided to make her way back to the ground floor to investigate. The narrow width of the corridor meant she had to walk on top of the metal plates covering the chains of the conveyor. She slipped and caught her left foot in the moving chainwork.
Her colleague didn’t hear her screams but she managed to free her leg and telephone for help. She suffered a serious degloving injury to her leg and ankle. Her ankle ligament complex was destroyed and the joint exposed. She required extensive surgery, with more likely to be needed, leaving her with permanent scarring to her lower leg and she still suffers considerable pain. She can only walk with the aid of a stick and has been unable to return to work owing to her injuries.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the conveyor had metal plates bolted in position above it to create a cover to protect workers from being caught in its moving parts. But several of the plates were found to be either loose, missing, or with openings that were large enough for a person’s foot to fit through.
The investigation also found that movement within the corridor was endangered by poor lighting and an uneven floor surface, which was the result of an accumulation of grain that had spilled from the silos, or conveyor.
The HSE issued a Prohibition Notice, which required the farm to prevent any further work taking place in the grain-drying building until suitable guards were put in place to prevent access to the dangerous parts of the conveyor.
HSE Inspector Harry Bottesch said: “Had a suitable and sufficient risk assessment been carried out then it would have identified the obvious deficiencies, and action could have been taken to address them.
“Guarding could have been installed on the conveyor to prevent access to dangerous parts but still enable grain to enter it. A safe system of work could also have been implemented to isolate power to the conveyor if workers needed to enter the corridor.”
Blackford Farms Ltd appeared at Perth Sheriff Court on 28 February and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) and s2(2)(a) of the HSWA 1974 and fined £35,000. No costs were awarded as the case was heard in Scotland.
In mitigation, the firm said it has subsequently demolished the grain-drying building and had no previous convictions.
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