A port operator has been fined £1.8 million, after an incident in which an Essex maritime terminal worker suffered serious injury after his arm became wrapped around a powered capstan, while mooring an ocean-going vessel.
The HSE said that the employer had already been alerted by employees as to risks arising from these particular capstans, and that this serious incident could easily have led to a fatality. HSE warned other employers to cooperate with workers to improve standards of health and safety; encouraging all to act promptly to implement appropriate safety precautions, when near misses are reported.
Basildon Crown Court imposed the fine on port operator C.RO Ports London Limited, after the company plead guilty to safety offences that contributed to the incident.
This prosecution followed an investigation by HSE, which found that, on 6 June 2014, the injured worker was one of a 3-man team securing a vessel’s heavy mooring ropes to land. The fingers of his left hand became caught between the rotating drum of a powered capstan and a heaving line. This caused his left arm to be dragged in and wrapped tightly about the rotating drum which was a few centimetres in diameter. The worker suffered multiple fractures and nerve and ligament damage.
The HSE investigation found that the defendant failed to suitably identify and control risk associated with the use of powered capstans at the port. Consequently, the system of work adopted was unsafe. Arrangements for instruction, training and supervision of workers using this equipment were inadequate, as were those for audit and monitoring of safety.
Importantly, the defendant failed to suitably heed warnings raised by its workers prior to the incident.
HSE later served an Improvement Notice (IN) requiring the company to suitably identify relevant hazards and control risk in accordance with legislation.
C.RO Ports London Limited, of Long Reach House, London Road, Purfleet, Essex, was fined £1.8 million, and ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £14,328, after pleading guilty to a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Glyn Davies said: “This type of incident was totally foreseeable – indeed workers had already alerted their employer to risks arising from these particular capstans. This serious incident could easily have led to a fatality”.
“All capstans feature dangerous rotating components. Capstans are difficult to guard, so it is vital that all workers must be made to stand well away from the danger zone while they are in use. This can be achieved by measures including careful design of the capstans and surrounding work area, for example to keep foot-pedals well away from rotating components. Here, it is fortunate that an alert co-worker successfully operated an emergency stop device on the capstan, preventing further injury”.
“Employers should seek to cooperate with workers to improve standards of health and safety, encouraging all to report ‘near-misses’ or potentially dangerous situations. Clearly it is most important that employers investigate such concerns, and act promptly to implement appropriate safety precautions”.
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