Taunton Deane Magistrates’ Court heard how the Seed Developments Limited employee suffered crush injuries to both hands after she was pushed under the press head of the machine. The injuries were so severe the employee had to have her right hand amputated.
Investigating the incident, which occurred on the 11 April 2016, the Health and Safety Executive found the company failed to ensure that effective measures were taken to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, namely the area between the moving press head and the carriage of the machine.
Seed Developments Limited of Huntworth Way, North Petherton, Somerset pleaded guilty to two offences of breaching Regulation 11 (1) of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,102.10.
Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Dawn Lawrence said: “These injuries could easily have been prevented and the risk should have been identified.
“Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.”
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
