Worker Suffers from Health and Safety Work Incident
A worker at a paper factory suffered from broken bones in his arm and ribs due to a work-related incident. The international paper supplier was found at fault for the injuries suffered by the 27-year-old man. The individual was being trained on the re-winder machine. This has a rotating spool that winds cardboard into a roll. The incident happened in 2010 and is just being heard by the local courts.
A second staff member was helping with the training on the equipment when the 27-year-old man’s fingers became trapped. The second man was not aware of what happened and started the machine. This caused the injured employee to be thrown over the top.
The company was brought up on charges due to workstation risk assessment failures. The company failed to protect the employee because there was no safety system in place. The company agreed that they breached section 2(1) of the Safety and Health Act. The company will need to pay £50,000 in a fine and £8,200 in additional costs.
The incident also made it clear that better health and safety training courses on the machinery were needed for all employees. Had the worker training the employee paid attention to the person he was helping before turning on the machine, the incident might have been avoided. Had a supervisor properly trained the other employee, the incident may have been avoided. There is no fault being pointed at one person, but the company risk managers should have seen to proper safety and training.
