Industry news
Safety breach at Yorkshire firm
Posted Wed, 11 Jul 2012
A building firm in North Yorkshire has been fined for a safety breach after an employee suffered nerve damage at its factory in Whitley Bay.
Mr Glyn Addison was using a wrapping machine when the accident happened on 16 February 2011 and, despite a colleague prising the ram away and freeing him quickly, he sustained nerve damage to his neck and shoulder area and has not returned to work.
Cromar Building Products Ltd pleaded guilty to a single breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act l974 and was fined £2,750 and told to pay £3,039 in costs after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution.
The HSE investigation found that there was no safe system of work for staff to adhere to at the factory in the Maltings Industrial Estate and that it was not possible to isolate the machine to access dangerous moving parts in a safe manner.
Selby Magistrates' Court heard that the packaging machine often became blocked and employees had no option but to walk between gaps down both sides of the discharge table in order to get to it.
Copyright Press Association 2012