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January 4, 2012

Two workers buried inside cement mixer

One worker died and another managed to escape when they were buried underneath 12 tonnes of limestone dust at a quarry in Somerset.

Taunton Crown Court heard that the incident took place at Whatley Quarry in Frome, Somerset, on 9 February 2008. Hanson Quarry Products Europe Ltd, which operates the site, contracted Robert Alan Taylor, trading as Quarry Maintenance Service Engineers, to remove compacted material from the inside of a large limestone fines hopper, which is used to mix the cement.

A build-up of limestone dust was preventing the mixture from flowing out of the hopper, so Taylor sent two of his employees, Neal Webber and Neil Myers, to unblock the machine. In order to remove the build-up of material, they lowered themselves into the hopper using harnesses, and stood on the mixture while chipping away at the solid material.

While they were removing the substance from the walls of the hopper, the material on which they were stood gave way. Mr Webber was buried under approximately 12 tonnes of limestone dust and was suffocated. But Mr Myers was only buried up to his chest and was able to pull himself out. He then tried in vain to rescue his colleague.

HSE inspector Ann Linden told SHP that the method of work was unsafe and that Mr Myers had only been partially buried, as he was using a shorter fixed-length line. She explained that the work could have been carried out safely if the machine had been ‘banged’ from the outside to loosen the mixture from the inside walls, or by fitting a vibrating device to shake the hopper.

Hanson Quarry Products Europe and Robert Taylor were issued Prohibition Notices, which prevented workers from accessing the hopper until a safe system of work was created.

Inspector Linden said: “Entering a hopper like this must be a last resort after all other possible methods of clearing compacted material have been considered and ruled out – and, even then, it needs to be very carefully planned and organised.

“In this case the parties involved did not consider an alternative to entering the hopper to clear the compacted material. The equipment and work method used in this case were not a safe option. If firms are going to send men into confined spaces they must be more rigorous with the safety systems they have in place.”

Hanson Quarry Products Europe appeared in court on 22 December and pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £27,500 and ordered to pay £27,000 in costs. Robert Taylor appeared at the same hearing and pleaded guilty to breaching reg. 4(2) of the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997. It was fined £1500, plus £10,000 in costs.

In mitigation, both firms said they had no previous convictions and had cooperated with the investigation. All parties accepted that neither defendant, through their failings, caused Mr Webber’s death.

The work was completed safely by fixing a vibrating device to the hopper to dislodge the remaining build-up of the material.

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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