Engineering firm in court over worker’s injuries
1 min read
A Radcliffe company has been fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,767 costs after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was dragged into dangerous parts of a moving machine.
Peter Wilson, 58, from Bury, was working at Cope Engineering (Radcliffe)'s plant when the cuff on his overalls was caught by the screws on a rotating 3m-long cylinder on 9 July 2012.
The company, which produces rollers for the printing, packaging and paper industries, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the company had not prevented access to dangerous moving parts of the machine.
Sefton Magistrates' Court in Bootle heard that Mr Wilson was reaching over to adjust a component on the machine when his overalls became caught, pulling him in and twisting him around.
A quick-thinking colleague pushed the emergency stop button and cut Mr Wilson's overalls to stop them from becoming more entangled before the rotating cylinder came to a halt.
Mr Wilson sustained injuries to his back and knee, and required 12 stitches to his arm. He was off work for seven weeks as a result of his injuries.
The court was told Cope Engineering made several changes to its working practices following the incident, including removing protruding screws from the cylinders, operating the machine at a slower speed when adjustments were being made, and changing the clothing worn by employees.
The company, of Sion Street in Radcliffe, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
HSE inspector Helen Mansfield said: "An employee was badly injured in the incident but it could easily have been much worse if his colleague hadn't acted quickly to stop the machine and cut his overalls free.
"Workers at the factory were put at a significant risk of their clothes becoming entangled on a daily basis so it was almost inevitable that someone would eventually be injured.
"Cope Engineering should have carried out a proper assessment of the risks faced by workers, and then acted to tackle the dangers. If the measures the company implemented following the incident had been in place sooner, then Peter's injuries could have been avoided."
