What happened?
In recent court proceedings, a manufacturing company has been fined following an injury to an employee’s arm.
Chemlsford Magistrates’ Court heard that on 19th June 2019, an agency worker was working on a production line making scourer sponges, gluing sponge to abrasive sheets. The worker attempted to remove dirt from a press roller at E.G.L. Homecare Limited in Shoeburyness, when his right hand was dragged into to the machinery up to his shoulder.
Injury
The painful injury resulted in the man being diagnosed with forearm compartment syndrome and needing an operation on his arm along with a six-day stay in hospital.
What should have prevented it?
The Health and Safety Executive investigated and found that E.G.L. Homecare Limited had not properly assessed the risks associated with the machinery and provided the correct control measures. This was an easily avoidable injury which could have been prevented had they provided tunnel guard on the press roller to prevent access to the rollers.
Costs
After a five-week trial, the court found Modus Workspace of Greencoat Place, London guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were ordered to pay a fine of £1.2 million plus £68,116.18 in costs.
Could CRAMS help?
CRAMS is a health and safety software programme which takes the hassle out of your H&S obligations. You can create your risk assessments and method statements online, with documents available to share with employees as soon as they have been signed off by a competent person. Anyone who spots issues can report them, flagging them to someone responsible for investigating and rectifying, Automatic review reminders mean that you’ll never let a health and safety document become out of date ever again.
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