Fine for Universal Recycling Company
04/01/12: 120 workers at a recycling firm in Rotherham were placed in serious danger after the dangerous areas of the cutting and crushing equipment were not sufficiently guarded.
During the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection of the Universal Recycling Company on Wharf Road, Kilnhust, Mexborough multiple failings in safety were discovered. There were safety breaches found in both the machine shop and the yard and there were so many findings that the inspection carried over into a second day in May 2010.
Three Prohibition Notices were handed out during the inspection due to the safety breaches, which shut down some areas of the recycling plant. Effective action was also demanded of the firm as two Improvement Notices were also handed out.
The inspectors found several instances where chopping machines, conveyors, belts, rollers, chain drivers, shredding and crushing machinery were not sufficiently guarded to protect workers.
London Wiper Company Ltd of Kettering, Northants, which trades as the Universal Recycling Company, was accused in the Rotherham Magistrates’ Court of failing to obey the notices despite been given an extension to the initial deadline of August 2010.
A further visit from the HSE revealed that guards were still not in place, and those that existed were not held in place properly; one guard was held by a rope. Furthermore, trapping points were still visible on pulleys and drive belts.
HSE Inspector Denise Fotheringham commented on the case by saying that the firm had shown a complete disregard for the safety of its workers and the opportunities it was given to rectify the situation. The firm had been provided with photographs, verbal advice, and further advice, but the firm still did not comply.
The inspector continued by reasserting that the HSE will not tolerate any firms ignoring its Improvement or Enforcement notices due to the number of fatal accidents caused by the failure to guard machines each year.
The London Wiper Company was handed a fine of £8,000 and an additional £5,000 in costs due to the firm pleading guilty to two counts of non-compliance of an Improvement Notice.
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