A recycling company in Somerset has been hit with a £24,000 fine after an unsafe conveyor belt caused one of its workers to suffer serious injuries.
The 34-year-old man had stopped the conveyor belt to remove something that had become trapped. However, his arm became trapped, and unfortunately his colleague accidentally restarted the machine, causing serious injuries to the man’s arm and shoulder.
The incident took place in November 2021 at New West Gypsum Recycling (UK) Limited in Weston-super-Mare, which was slammed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) whose investigation found that dangerous parts of the machinery were exposed.
Moreover, there were no proper safety procedures. At the hearing, Taunton Magistrates’ Court heard that the recycling company had failed to fit the machine with adequate guards, while no system for isolating and locking off the machine from the power supply before removing blockages was in place.
Speaking to Somerset Live after the hearing HSE inspector Dawn Lawrence said: “This incident was completely preventable. The injuries sustained could have been much worse and should never have happened.
“Failure to securely isolate and lock off is a primary cause of many machinery incidents in the waste industry.
“Companies shouldn’t overlook important machinery safety basics, including adequate guards to prevent access to dangerous parts and a suitable procedure for isolating and locking off the machine from the power supply before starting any intervention.”
At the hearing, the company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2 of the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 and was hit with the hefty fine. They were also ordered to pay £4,600 in costs to Taunton Magistrates Court.
Importance Of Safe Conveyors
News like this merely highlights the need to have safe machinery that’s well maintained in place. Thankfully, accidents like these are quite rare and they’re also completely preventable.
If you have conveyor belts in your workplace and you believe their safety could be improved, now is the time to act before someone gets seriously injured. As well as causing potentially life-threatening injuries to one of your employees, you could also end up with a big fine, like this recycling company from Somerset.
So keep this in mind and get in touch with us if any aspects of your conveyor system need updating or repairing. We also offer conveyor maintenance services where we carry out a full service of your entire system.
When these are carried out, we can spot any potential safety hazards, so if your system is due for its regular check-up, speak to us and we’d be happy to provide our services.
