A manufacturing company has been fined £340,000 after a worker suffered serious hand injuries while cleaning machinery at a Swindon site. The case is a real reminder that routine jobs can become dangerous really quickly when equipment isn’t properly isolated.
What happened
The employee was cleaning a machine used to produce pellets when he manually raised a hydraulic ram and opened a door to reach inside. As he pulled his arm back, the door fell and triggered the ram, trapping him.
He managed to get himself free, but his injuries were severe, with some torn nerves and tendons, and he needed several operations to reattach his fingers, spending ten days in hospital. He continues to have reduced movement and sensation.
The Health and Safety Executive found that the company hadn’t put suitable safeguards in place, and training, instructions and supervision were also inadequate. Similar risks can arise around automated equipment, including a vacuum conveyor like these aptech.uk.com/pneumatic-conveying-systems/vacuum-conveying.
The wider safety lesson
Cleaning, maintenance and fault-finding should never begin until the machinery has been fully isolated from every power source. It’s really important that lock-off procedures stop equipment restarting unexpectedly, and they only work when staff are trained to use them properly.
The company admitted breaching health and safety law and was also ordered to pay £5,145 in costs. The total fine is substantial, but the worker’s lasting injuries are obviously the clearest consequence. Safe isolation isn’t just red tape or paperwork for its own sake; it is what stands between an ordinary task and a life-changing accident.
