A farmer suffered fatal head injuries when he was struck by the rotating arms of a bale-wrapping machine, which had a fault in its design.
The HSE prosecuted the manufacturer of the equipment, McHale Engineering Ltd, of Co Mayo, in Ireland, for supplying the defective machine in 2001, although the fatal incident did not occur until 28 May 2009.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on 3 December that George Stokes, 48, had been working on his own at Tong Norton Farm, in Shifnal, preparing a McHale 998 square-bale wrapping machine. He was carrying out maintenance work in advance of the grass-cutting season and was found slumped over the front of the machine by his brother. Ambulance crews pronounced him dead at the scene.
An HSE investigation revealed that the machine’s safety trip bar had not been designed to stop the rotating bale arms in sufficient time. This meant that anyone who activated the safety trip bar was still at risk of being struck by the machinery.
The court heard that Mr Stokes was hit by the wrapper’s arms when they started to rotate unexpectedly, taking almost a third of a turn to stop after the safety trip had been activated. The rollers of the machine have to be level with each other before the bale-wrapping process begins, so it is believed that either Mr Stokes had to manually adjust them to level up, or the arms started suddenly while he was standing in their path.
The defective machine was sent for testing to the Health and Safety Laboratory, to whom the manufacturer also provided other similar bale wrappers for further checks. A number of competitor models was also tested and it was found that the design fault of rotating baling arms not stopping in sufficient time was a cross-industry issue. The HSE issued a safety alert about the risks of bale-wrapping machines and, as a result, a European standard for this type of equipment has been developed.
Pleading guilty to breaching section 6(1) of the HSWA 1974, McHale Engineering Ltd was fined £45,000 and ordered to pay £70,000 in costs.
It mitigated that it fully cooperated with the HSE investigation and wrote to all users and suppliers of the machine, offering a retrofit kit to improve the equipment’s braking. It had a previously good safety record and told the court it had spent around £500,000 rectifying the design problem.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector David Kivlin said: “Mr Stokes’ death was a tragedy, which could have been prevented if McHale Engineering had designed the machine to stop in a safe manner when the safety trip bar was activated.
“Manufacturers of farm equipment should ensure that they design such equipment so that safety risks are reduced as far as possible for anyone who enters the danger zone of the rotating arms.”
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