A textile company based in Devon has been fined after a workers hand was crushed. The incident occurred at the Heathcoat Fabrics Ltd factory after the worker was preparing a piece of machinery for the next shift, when his hand was drawn into rotating rollers. He suffered severe crushed hand injuries which resulted in the amputation of 4 of his fingers.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Heathcoat Fabrics Ltd had failed to safeguard the machine, making it very dangerous to use. A guard was previously fitted to the machine, but when it broke down;the company had failed to repair it, and instead replaced it with an emergency stop wire. The machine was left un-guarded for over two years, and a guard wasn't fitted till after the incident occurred on the 23rd August 2014.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, and were fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2862.30.
To prevent a similar incident occurring at your workplace, it's important you ensure that every safety measure has been put in place to ensure your workers remain safe when using machinery that posseses a risk of entanglement. Here at Label Source we have a wide choice of entanglement warning signs that will inform your workers of the risks of using that machine, and to take extra caution, preventing any incidents or accidents from happening. To view our range of entanglement warning signs, please click here.
