Honda fined £10,000 for Swindon factory accident

The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £5,959 in costs by Swindon Magistrates Court earlier this week for failing in its duties under section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It's believed to be the first health and safety prosecution for the car manufacturer in the UK. The court heard that 55-year-old Cesar Santos had been using an emery cloth to polish a metal component as it rotated on a manual lathe on 11 February 2012. HSE inspectors found that Santos was in the final stages of polishing the component when the glove on his right hand became entangled in the equipment, severing two fingers. At the time, he was being observed by a group of supervisors and management, and was distracted when they asked how much longer he would be. The HSE investigation found that Honda did not provide a safe system of work and failed to assess the dangers involved in the work that Santos was requested to carry out. In addition, the company failed to enforce its own glove policy which indicated gloves should not be worn while operating machinery. Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Ian Whittles said: "This incident could have easily been prevented had there been a safe system of work in place and the company's glove policy had been enforced. Honda clearly failed to ensure the safety of its employees, with painful consequences for Mr Santos. "If an emery cloth is held by hand and wrapped round a work piece, there is a high risk of it becoming entangled. Wearing gloves also increases the risk of entanglement and for these reasons hand application of emery cloth should be avoided… In this case, a tool holder could have been used or the component could have been taken off the lathe and polished by hand." For information on the use of emery cloths, click the link to the HSE site below.