A worker lost two toes following an incident in which he became trapped in a live conveyor inside a grain pit at a farm in Fife, Scotland.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, sitting on 11 October, heard that on 4 September 2009, Peter Ednie, 26, had been working inside the pit at Blacketyside Farm, using a bucket to empty it of 12 inches of rainwater.
While doing so, his foot became caught in the unguarded part of a screw auger, a conveyor consisting of a large screw that rotates inside a steel tube to collect grain.
The court heard that as this was going on, farmer Robert Todd was nearby, cleaning a grain-drying bin, which was emptied via operation of a different screw-auger conveyor.
Although the screw auger to the grain pit had been switched off and was not rotating, its power supply had not been isolated before the employee entered the pit.
When Mr Todd went over to the control panel, he mistakenly activated the switch for the screw auger inside the pit where Mr Ednie was working, causing it to start to rotate and trapping his right foot.
His small toe was severed in the incident and he suffered injuries to his fourth toe, which he later had to have amputated. His foot still feels constantly cold and he has no feeling in his third toe, causing him difficulty in walking. He required six weeks off work and did not return to work for the farm owner, R Todd & Company.
The HSE found that the firm had no systems in place to communicate the message to employees that power must always be isolated before unguarded machines are cleaned, rather than just switching them off.
HSE inspector Harry Bottesch, who investigated the incident, commented: “If R Todd & Company had carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and provided a safe system of work for the task of cleaning inside the grain reception pit, this incident would not have happened.
“Power to the screw auger in the grain reception pit should have been isolated before an employee attempted to enter and clean it; it was not sufficient to simply turn the machinery off.”
Following the incident, the HSE issued the company with a Prohibition Notice to stop any work activity from taking place inside the grain reception pit without safety measures being taken. This resulted in a new risk assessment being carried out by the farm and a safe system of work for pit entry devised.
In addition, an isolation point was added to the control panel for the grain dryer so that the power to machinery in the drying system could be turned off and locked in position. A warning notice was put up near to the grain pit as a reminder of the new safe system of work and the hatch in the grid, which covers the top of the pit at ground level, is now locked, so that only authorised personnel – i.e. the farm manager and maintenance engineers – can enter it.
The court fined R Todd & Company £20,000 for breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974 by not ensuring the safety of its employees. It pleaded guilty to the charge. No costs are awarded in Scotland.
The Safety Conversation with SHP (previously the Safety and Health Podcast) aims to bring you the latest news, insights and legislation updates in the form of interviews, discussions and panel debates from leading figures within the profession.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, subscribe and join the conversation today!
