Fine for Yorkshire Galvanising Ltd
A Rotherham company has been prosecuted for health and safety failings following an engineer being crushed by a weight landing on him.
The employee sustained a fractured shoulder, 2 broken ribs as well as injuries to 3 vertebrae when he became trapped between a junction box and a counterweight on a large galvanizing machine.
The incident happened in September 2010 at a site on Cornish Way in Rotherham, and prompted an investigation by HSE.
Rotherham Magistrates heard that the engineer had gone to investigate a machine fault and had climbed into the machines gantry. After clearing the fault he went to the back of the gantry which was out of the operator’s line of vision to double check another recent repair he had completed previously. The machine was operational as he leaned over the rail to get a better view, however, the counterweight dropped and pinned him to the junction box.
He was able to shout ‘stop’ in order to alert his colleagues to what had happened before he lost consciousness and a co-worker who was at the control panel managed to lift the weight and free him.
A HSE spokesperson has said that the accident could easily have been a fatal considering the immense weight of the counterweight. The company’s procedures were found to fall well below those normally expected when dealing with machinery of this type. The machines are very large and maintenance workers routinely enter them in order to fault-find. The machines also had blind spots that effectively meant that engineer was out of sight to the operator.
There wasn’t an automated system in place to isolate the machinery whilst maintenance and repairs were carried out and the engineers relied on interlocks and emergency stops. As a system it is hopelessly inadequate as there was always a risk that the machine could re-start with an engineer inside. Machines must have the facility to be completely isolated from a power supply and if it is necessary for an engineer to enter the machine, it must be locked with a padlock which only the engineer can unlock once he has completed the work.
Yorkshire Galvanising Ltd received a fine of £10K and was ordered to pay £5K in costs.
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