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October 30, 2013

Unsafe system of work led to worker losing his arm

 

A recycling firm has been fined after a worker lost his arm in a conveyor belt as he was trying to clean it.
 
Stephen John, 57, of Baglan Moors, Port Talbot, was working for Neath Port Talbot Recycling Ltd in Swansea when the incident happened on 11 May 2011.
 
On 25 October, Swansea Crown Court heard that Mr John had been asked to clean the conveyor, which had become blocked with a sticky black substance known as flack.
 
The company did not have a risk assessment or safe system of work for completing the task and experienced employees like Mr John had developed their own way of cleaning the conveyor belt roller.
 
The system of work involved one employee standing by the control switch — out of sight of the conveyor — while a second employee inserted a bar to scrape the flack from the roller, and then inserted an arm to wipe away the flack. 
 
A command would then be given to the switch controller and the conveyor would be started and stopped quickly. The process would be repeated until the roller was clean.
 
On the day of the incident, Mr John inserted his arm to wipe the flack away. He then passed the bar to a work colleague. The person controlling the switch misinterpreted this as a signal and started the conveyor.
 
Mr John’s right forearm was trapped and amputated by the conveyor belt. The arm was severed below the elbow and could not be reattached by surgeons. 
 
Following a prosecution brought by the HSE, Neath Port Talbot Recycling Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11 of PUWER 1998 and section 2(1) of the HSWA 1974, and was fined a total of £90,000 and ordered to pay costs of £50,000. 
 
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Sarah Baldwin-Jones, said: “Mr John suffered a serious and permanent injury. The potential for greater harm or a fatal incident was also a realistic possibility. 
 
“The company failed to fully guard the conveyor around the tail end roller and this failure resulted in employees having access to dangerous parts of the machine. The risk of entrapment is well known in the industry, and this company could have taken simple steps to fit guarding.
 
“There was also no line of sight between Mr John and the employee operating the machinery and the company failed to carry out a risk assessment when the conveyor was installed. They also failed to devise a safe way of cleaning the rollers and to instruct employees on how to clean them safely.”

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