Industry news
Recycling firm fined for lax safety
Posted Fri, 03 Aug 2012
A Birmingham metal recycling firm was prosecuted and fined following an accident in which an employee broke a trapped arm in an unguarded conveyor belt.
The 28-year-old Blackheath man was working as a recycler at Hawkeswood Metal Recycling Limited in Nechells, when he got his arms stuck while trying to retrieve a piece of scrap metal from the conveyor belt on 20 April 2010.
The man started using a mop, then his right hand, to try and get the metal unstuck, Birmingham Crown Court heard last week (26 July). But his glove became caught between the belt and rotating roller and dragged his arm into the mechanism
The employee, who did not wish to be named, also suffered soft tissue damage to his wrist resulting in nine months off work because of his injuries.
According to the findings of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)'s investigation, there was no guard put in place to stop workers from suffering such accidents with the dangerous mechanism.
Hawkeswood Metal Recycling Limited, of Trevor Street, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 after the accident. The firm was given a fine of £50,000 and ordered to pay £10,056 in costs.
Copyright Press Association 2012