An international waste-recycling firm has been fined £60,000 after a worker lost part of his arm in an unguarded machine.
Daniel Ali, 35, was working as a process operator at Coolrec UK Ltd’s plant at the Burnt Mills Industrial Estate in Basildon, when the incident took place, on 4 April 2008. Mr Ali was clearing debris from a pulverising machine, which smashes televisions and computer screens and separates the parts so they can be recycled. He was reaching over a conveyor belt to sweep broken glass off a ledge inside the machine, when his glove got caught in a nip on the conveyor and was drawn into the machine.
He was trapped for 45 minutes before being freed by the emergency services, but doctors were unable to save his arm and it was amputated between the elbow and shoulder.
The HSE visited the site on the same day as the incident and issued a Prohibition Notice requiring the machine to be taken out of service until adequate guards were fitted. HSE inspector Vicky Fletcher explained that her investigation found the machine had been supplied without adequate guards by the firm’s Netherlands-based parent company, Coolrec Group BV. As a result, charges were subsequently brought against the parent company rather than Coolrec UK.
Inspector Fletcher said: “This incident was completely avoidable and has left a man in the prime of his life without his right arm. Coolrec Group BV could and should have ensured the conveyor belts on the recycling line were properly guarded in order to prevent incidents such as this.
“This case highlights just how important health and safety at work is. The law is there to protect the workforce and when it is not adhered to, people can suffer life-changing injuries such as this one.”
Coolrec Group BV appeared at Basildon Crown Court on 9 March and pleaded guilty to breaching s6(1)(a) of the HSWA 1974, for failing to ensure that the machine it provided was safe to use. In addition to the fine it was ordered to pay £22,000 in costs.
In mitigation, the firm said it had no previous convictions and had fully cooperated with the investigation. It also revealed that the machine had been taken out of service for three weeks so it could be fitted with guards.
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Did the subsidiary company’s own in-house risk assessment not highlight the risk of this accident happening? Or was the sole liability placed on the parent company?
What a simple failing there is no excuse for oversights like this.