Bath Magistrates’ Court heard how Jeffery Baulf, a maintenance fitter employed by the company, was carrying out maintenance work while the machine was not isolated. A conveyor started moving and Mr Baulf suffered fatal injuries when he got trapped.
The HSE’s investigation into the incident, which occurred on 3 October 2016, found the company had not implemented procedures to ensure machinery was isolated before starting maintenance work.
The Court was told that the maintenance task was authorised by Mr Baulf’s supervisor but the required control measures were not checked before work started as the procedure required.
Access to dangerous moving parts of the machines at the site was generally controlled by enclosures which prevented access to the danger zones. Access into the enclosures was generally controlled by a special key system which should have made sure machinery was isolated and safe to work around when people entered the enclosure.
HSE told the Court that when the site was inspected after the incident a spare key was discovered, which meant that access to machinery in the incident area was possible without turning off and isolating the machine.
During the investigation HSE also found:
CPM Group Limited of Mells Road, Mells, Somerset, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £660,000 with costs of £14,563.57.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Leo Diez said: “This tragic incident, which led to the avoidable death of a man, was easily prevented and the risk should have been identified.”
“Employers should make sure they apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery. Maintenance work should only be carried out when the piece of plant / equipment is isolated and confirmed safe. There should not be any spare keys to captive key systems.”
Mr Baulf’s wife, Jayne, said: “Losing Jeff in this way was truly shocking and heart breaking for all of us. We think of him every minute of every day. Our lives will never be the same again. Knowing that CPM could have prevented it makes it all the more difficult to bear.”
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