If you have a health and safety system in place, review and monitor it on a frequent basis.
This was the message that Mark Grubb, from Calibra Tree Surgeons Ltd, asked attendees at the SHP Legal Arena to take home with them, as he described the impact that a workplace incident had on himself and his company.
During what was a very open and candid account, Mark outlined how his company, which comprises around 10 staff, had been employing workers at 16 years of age and over for the past 15 years, and had, before recently, also taken on young people as work experience.
He explained that in September 2011, the company took on a 16-year-old as work experience, after hearing that the young lad was looking for such a role.
One of Mark’s managers took the young worker under his wing, and he was given in-house training and all the necessary PPE, including gloves, steel toe-cap boots, etc. His job was to drag brushwood to a wood chipper, and feed it into the machine so it could be processed into pulverised wood chip for use by power stations. Mark also explained that no formal documents were taken.
One Friday, he was away from the office for a long weekend break when he received a call that there had been an incident at work. It emerged that the 16-year-old had got on top of the chipper and fed in the brushwood with his foot. Not wearing the appropriate foot protection, he was dragged into the machine. He lost all his toes and half the ball of his foot.
Mark, who was unable to return to the workplace immediately as he was out of the country, ensured his team gathered up the necessary site specifications and risk-assessment documents, which it had in place. The HSE was also informed, in compliance with RIDDOR.
On returning to the country, he went straight to hospital to visit the young worker, who, according to Mark, couldn’t look him in the eye. His sense of guilt was exacerbated by the fact that the boy’s parents held Mark responsible.
The HSE investigation lasted around 18 months, during which time, he was constantly worried whether the company was going to survive, or whether it could carry on employing or investing in equipment. The chipper involved was served with a Prohibition Notice, which caused further financial impact.
Mark admitted that, while his workers stuck with him during this uncertain period, he was not easy to put up with, while the stress on his family was also significant. Some of his staff were also worried about losing their jobs because they had failed to bring certain things to his attention, which had Mark known about and acted on, might have averted the incident. In the end, they did not lose their jobs, but Mark tightened up procedures in this regard.
All this time, Mark conceded that the injured victim was never far from his thoughts and he worried that his injuries might impair his work life.
Earlier this year, the company was fined £7000 in a prosecution brought by the HSE, along with £6000 in costs. After the prosecution, Mark said he felt a sense of relief and committed to move on from the experience and learn the lessons as best he could.
Since the incident, Mark has brought in an independent consultant, who reviewed his firm’s health and safety manuals and procedures. His insurance company also informed him that there were 10 other similar incidents that had occurred recently in the country, which, at the very least, helped reassure Mark that this particular experience wasn’t unique. He has also since trained up all his managers and sent them on risk-assessment courses, and now follows a training matrix.
He also said that, with regret, his company no longer takes on anyone under the age of 18.
In his concluding message to the audience, Mark stressed the importance of reviewing and monitoring health and safety systems. He admitted that he had thought he had everything in place, but, in hindsight, certain issues were not being sent up the management chain to him, and some of his record-keeping had been lax.
