Director of recycling company sentenced after a worker suffered severe injuries
The director of BW Recycling Limited, a Halifax-based recycling company, has been given a community order after a worker lost part of his left leg.
On 26 November 2019, the worker’s legs were crushed inside a waste baler. The lower part of his left leg was amputated instantly and he lost several toes from his right foot. In a victim personal statement, the worker said that “every day was a struggle” and that returning to work had proved to be very difficult due to the prosthetic leg he now has to wear.
An HSE investigation found that the director had introduced a working platform in front of the baler to make the job of filling the hopper easier for the operatives. The introduction of the platform in front of the hopper permitted easy access to the baling chamber, including access to the dangerous moving parts of the baler itself.
Breach
The director of BW Recycling Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
- Section 37(1) makes offences under the Act committed by a body corporate that are proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, they, as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Penalty
The director was given a 12-month community order and must complete 160 hours of unpaid work. The director was also ordered to pay £5,843 in costs.
BW Recycling Limited was not prosecuted by HSE after it was dissolved via compulsory strike off on 5 December 2023.
Electrical transmission company fined nearly quarter of a million after worker fall
A Cheshire-based company has been fined after a man was left paralysed from the chest down following a fall at work.
The worker was employed as a linesman by Wood Transmission and Distribution Limited. On 6 April 2022, the man had been demolishing and replacing electricity pylons in East Staffordshire, when he fell more than 30 feet.
The man and his colleagues began working on a pylon known as Tower AE11 in preparation for its demolition. They were unaware there had been previous work to loosen the bolts on the tower, known as “bolt cracking”, undertaken by another team of linesmen. This work had not been risk assessed and there were no systems in place to effectively record and communicate what had actually been done.
In addition, the team that was sent to site was under-staffed for the work. As the job progressed, the man unknowingly attached his fall protection lanyard to a diagonal steel section that was only securely bolted in place at its uppermost fixing. As he moved around the tower, the steel section he was attached to dropped into a vertical position, causing his lanyard to fall loose, resulting in him falling to the ground.
The man spent six months in hospital and has been left unable to work as a result of his extensive injuries.
An HSE investigation found that Wood Transmission and Distribution Limited had failed to ensure work at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised, and carried out in a manner that was, so far as was reasonably practicable, safe. The company had not considered the work at height hierarchy as part of its planning and had not assessed the risks associated with bolt cracking. Furthermore, it had not adequately resourced the task in line with its own safety documentation and had failed to put in place a process for transferring work between teams and ensuring safety critical information was recorded and communicated effectively.
Breach
Wood Transmission and Distribution Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulation 2005:
- Regulation 4(1) requires every employer to ensure work at height is properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe. This planning includes the selection of work equipment in accordance with Regulation 7.
Penalty
Wood Transmission and Distribution Limited was fined £240,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,142.
Local authority fined following a school technician losing their finger
A local authority has been sentenced after a worker lost his finger while operating a machine at a school in Horsham.
On 13 June 2022, the technician lost his right index finger when it was sliced off by a circular bench saw. The technician, who worked in the design and technology (DT) department, had been operating the saw to cut pieces of wood that were set to be used for a DT lesson.
While pushing one of the sheets of wood through the saw, the man felt a pain in his right index finger and immediately turned off the machine. As he looked down, he saw his finger lying on the bench.
An HSE investigation found West Sussex County Council, the local authority in charge of the school, failed to ensure the worker was trained to use the bench circular saw. The man had used the saw many times but had not been trained on how to use it safely.
Breach
West Sussex County Council pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998:
- Regulation 9 requires that employers ensure all persons using work equipment have received adequate training for health and safety purposes, including on the methods that may be adopted when using work equipment, risks use may entail and precautions required.
Penalty
West Sussex County Council was fined £16,000, ordered to pay £4,294.60 in costs and a victim surcharge of £190.
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