£20k fine for manual handling failures

An engineering company has been fined after a worker’s fingers were crushed by a metal frame he was attempting to lift with colleagues.

Norwich Magistrates Court was told how, on 14 February 2017, a worker of Dantech Engineering Limited was injured when a metal frame weighing approximately 250 kilograms fell while lifting it manually to carry out welding, crushing his fingers.

Two fingers were partially amputated later as a result of his injuries.

Not an isolated occurrence

The Health and Safety Executive’s investigation revealed that the lifting and turning of these frames was not an isolated occurrence and a number of the frames had been made in this manner over the three years that the company has been in existence.

No steps had been taken to avoid the manual handling or to assess the manual handling operation and take steps to reduce the likelihood of injury.

Dantech Engineering Limited of Burrell Way, Thetford, Norfolk, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) (b) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £884.00 costs.

Speaking after the case, HSE Inspector Anthony Brookes said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.

“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

Listen now!