A company that manufactures animal feed has been fined more than half a million pounds after an employee’s lower arm was severed after it became caught in a conveyor belt.
The employee had been working with the company for just a few months when the incident happened in November 2021. The company is part of Associated British Foods (ABF) which has sales of £13.9 billion and employs 133,000 employees and operations in 53 countries across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia.
The conveyor he was working on had been installed just months before the incident and was known to frequently jam, requiring manual intervention to remove blockages by pulling out a slide plate, clearing the debris, and resetting a cut-off switch. He was trying to clear a blockage when his hand was pulled into the conveyor mechanism, resulting in the amputation of his right arm below the elbow. He was unable to return to work for more than two years.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigators revealed that employees often attempted to clear blockages themselves for speed, despite lacking proper training in isolation procedures. Additionally, there had been no review of the risk assessment for the conveyor’s operation since its installation.
The investigation also highlighted the absence of a system to ensure that safety guards and features were in place before the conveyor was used.
At Hull Magistrates’ Court earlier this month, the company admitted breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company was fined £566,000 and ordered to pay £6,410 in prosecution costs.
Guidelines emphasise the importance of implementing effective measures to prevent access to hazardous machinery parts and ensuring that equipment is isolated before any maintenance is performed. Employees should receive adequate training in isolation procedures.
SOURCE – IOSH
