An automotive firm that developed a “culture of violation” must pay £50,000 in penalties after an industrial robot struck a worker in the throat, damaging his voice box and almost paralysing him down one side of his body.
The HSE prosecuted Dura Automotive Body and Glass Systems UK for failing to ensure employees’ safety and not carrying out a suitable risk assessment after Michael Brewer was hurt in May 2008 while repairing the full-automated robot at its Midlands site.
Dura admitted charges under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. At Birmingham Crown Court on 21 July, the judge fined it £30,000 plus £20,000 costs.
The court heard that as part of the repairs, Brewer needed to watch the machine’s operating cycle but his view was blocked by the solid guard that enclosed the robot. To see better he decided to enter the guarded danger zone, where the robot hit him.
Dura had a system of work for going inside the machine that required workers to put the machine into manual mode before entering, but this did not account for the need to see the operating cycle from outside, and the firm did not adequately supervise its own system.
HSE inspectors discovered that viewing the cycle from inside the guarded area was common practice. The company’s risk assessment did not address the risks from maintenance operations or those posed by the robots inside the guarding.
“Maintenance personnel often have to work within the guarded area of machinery, sometimes in the face of significant production pressure,” said the HSE’s investigating inspector.
“Safe access arrangements must be provided and these should be written into maintenance procedures and have full management commitment.”
The inspector warned that if workers see supervisors and managers violate procedures, as happened in this case, they start to think their company condones this.
“There was a culture of violation in this factory and it is very sad that it took an almost fatal accident for the company to identify this.”
Dura has now installed large viewing panels in the guarding, providing a clear view from the outside and improving access arrangements.
