Disabled machine guard puts workers at risk
Feb 24, 2010
A major food manufacturing company put workers at risk by allowing employees to operate an unguarded machine.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching reg. 11(3) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998. It was fined £3000 and ordered to pay full costs of £2000.
Magistrates heard that one of the firm’s employees crushed his hand whilst assisting colleagues in clearing a blockage in a cabbage washing line. The worker reached inside the screw conveyor, which is used to slice cabbages, to clear several cabbages that were blocking the machine.
The device had been fitted with a guard in place to prevent access to the conveyor but this had been disabled. The machine had not been isolated and, when the worker removed the blockage, the conveyor re-started and crushed his hand.
It is often assumed large companies adhere to health and safety policies at all times. In this instance the company, a large multi-national, failed to efficiently maintain the protective guards in place to prevent employees accessing dangerous parts of the factory’s machinery.
The employee suffered the injury while working a night shift. This incident underlines the importance of companies maintaining the same standard of care to employees on both the night shift and the day shift.
