Industry news
Company fined £10,000 over lost fingers
Posted Fri, 23 Oct 2009
An explosives company has been ordered to pay a £10,000 fine after one of its employees lost two-and-a-half fingers while using a piece of machinery.
The employee was working for Orica UK Ltd at a site in Fife, Scotland, on 25 February 2008. He was filling a Mobile Explosives Manufacturing Unit with emulsion and tried to unblock a clogged auger feed device while the emulsion was being pumped in.
But when he reached into the inspection hatch area to remove the blockage, the machinery unexpectedly started to turn. As a result, he lost two-and-a-half fingers from his left hand.
Orica UK Ltd pleaded guilty at Dunfermline Sheriff's Court to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The firm was fined a total of £10,000.
The Health and Safety Executive, who brought the prosecution against Orica, investigated the incident and found that there were deficiencies in the company's risk assessment.
They concluded that there was no safe system in place for clearing blockages, the augers were inadequately guarded and the company provided insufficient supervision and training.
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Health and Safety Executive