Huddersfield manufacturing company fined after workplace fatality
IFG Drake Ltd, a Huddersfield based manufacturing company has been fined £366,850 and must pay £23,993 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Mr Javeed Ghaffar suffered fatal injuries whilst working on the stretch godet section of a synthetic fibre manufacturing machine at Victoria Mills, Huddersfield. Mr Ghaffar became entangled in the machine when he was tasked with removing a lap from around the rollers. A lap occurs when fibres stick to the rollers of the machine and wrap around them.
HSE stated: “An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the machine was not adequately guarded. It had become custom and practice for employees to reach around the inadequate guarding in place to deal with problems of this nature.”
HSE inspector John Boyle called the incident “wholly avoidable” and further stated it was “caused by the failure of the company to provide adequate guarding against dangerous parts of the machine.”
Concrete manufacturer fined after one fatality and a further serious injury
Treanor Pujol Ltd has been fined £285,000 and must pay costs of £56,324.97 after pleading guilty to the following: Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, and breaching Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 by failing to comply with Regulation 6(c).
On the 5th of June 2014 Treanor employee Matthew Fulleylove was operating a mobile saw unit on Line 12 at the factory while another employee was operating a mobile bed cleaner on Line 11. Mr Fulleylove was standing on the footwell of the saw unit as the other machine passed on the adjacent production line. As the bed cleaner came past, Matthew’s head was crushed between the frames of the two machines and he was killed instantly. The HSE investigation concluded that the company had “failed to devise a safe system of work to control this risk and failed to provide adequate training in such a procedure to employees.”
The second incident occurred on 12th of April 2018 and saw a 47 year old employee have his hand fractured and partially de-gloved. The employee had been operating a hooks machine which embeds hooks into precast concrete when a fault developed during the operation. Whilst trying to reset the machine his elbow leant on a concrete dispenser box and a metal shutter designed to close off the flow of concrete. The metal shutter closed, consequently trapping his hand. An investigation by HSE found that the machine was not fitted with working interlocks, meaning several of the machine doors could be opened to gain access to dangerous moving parts whilst the machine was operating.
Ms Dixon, an HSE inspector commented: “In regard to the second incident, the company should have ensured that the dangerous parts of the Hooks Machine could not be accessed by anyone whilst they were moving by way of suitable guarding arrangements.” If you’ve been affected by an accident at work get in touch with Wolf Law accident solicitors in Liverpool.
