Foundry fined as worker escapes fall into 1,400°C molten metal

The 42 year-old employee from Tipton, who doesn't wish to be named, suffered bruising to his arm, shoulder and neck on 27 October 2011 when he fell from the front of an overhead platform. Had he fallen to the back he would have tumbled into the molten metal at Brockmoor Foundry Company. Employees used the platform as a step to cross the conveyor as they collected regular samples of the metal stream. The platform, however, was only intended to hold sampling equipment and was unsuitable for this purpose, HSE said. Other platforms surrounding the area were old and unstable and missing important safety features such as handrails, Dudley Magistrates Court was told. The Brockmoor Foundry Company Limited, of Leys Road, Brierley Hill, West Midlands, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (etc) Act 1974 and were fined £10,400 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000. HSE inspector John Glynn said:"The employee was extremely lucky to have only suffered bruising – as it was a matter of good fortune that he fell towards the front of the platform. He could so easily have fallen off the platform entirely, or worse, fallen backwards into the molten metal stream." Glyn added: "The incident was entirely avoidable and occurred because the company failed to assess the risks and control the hazards associated with their work activities. "The case demonstrates the importance of effective management. Had the company performed a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks surrounding the area, provided appropriate work equipment and effectively managed their employees' systems of work, safety in this dangerous environment would have been significantly increased."