Airport fined £100k after boy’s leg crushed

Birmingham Airport Limited has been fined after a six-year-old boy became trapped in a baggage conveyor.

Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard how the boy was trapped by machinery when he found his way into the mesh cage of the ‘out of gauge’ conveyor, which was used for delivering oversized baggage to the public baggage reclaim area. The conveyor started whilst he was inside. He suffered a crush injury to his leg and spent to nights in hospital for observation.

The Health and Safety Executive’s investigation into the incident, which occurred on 4 September 2016, found the airport management had removed a safety device and its replacement did not provide the same level of protection.

Avoidable

Birmingham Airport Limited of Bickenhill, Solihull, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, have been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,251.23.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Geoffrey Brown said: “This case will serve as a reminder that risk assessments and guarding of machinery requires regular review and monitoring especially where arrangements are altered or removed.

“Had the airport assessed the changes properly these injuries could have been avoided”.

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.

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