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Company fined after employee loses part of finger - 08-05-2008 | The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned companies to protect employees from dangerous machinery and have suitable risk assessments after 31 year old Melissa Graham, from Corby, lost part of her finger in a machine.
Glue manufacturer Chemence Ltd of Princewood Road, Earlstrees Industrial Estate, Corby, was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay £1,835.60 costs, at Corby Magistrates Court today after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) (a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, for failure to make a suitable and significant risk assessment, and contravening Regulation 11 (1) (a) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 for failure to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery.
On the 18 July 2007 Melissa Graham, 31, working at Chemence Ltd, was placing empty aluminium tubes for glue inside a machine. Each filled and completed tube should have been pushed up squarely from a holder and channelled down a chute into a plastic box. Some tubes would be pushed up at an angle and fall inside the machine, causing a jam. It was common for workers to put their hands inside the machine and flick away tubes to clear the jam.
As Melissa Graham attempted to remove a tube her hand was drawn further in. She pushed the stop button but the drive chain carried on. Two other workers tried to press the emergency stop button but her left middle finger was virtually amputated at the last joint. After being trapped for over an hour Melissa Graham was taken to hospital by air ambulance, but staff could not reattach her finger.
HSE Inspector for Northamptonshire Rowena Dossett said:
"This incident could have been avoided if Chemence Ltd had made a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and employees made aware of the dangers associated with the machine and its deceptively slow speed. It only took a second for each holder to advance which did not give Melissa Graham enough time to remove her finger. The dangers were further increased as the machines had no instantaneous braking system which would have brought the moving parts to a halt.
"Employers must ensure that sufficient risk assessments are made and that all employees are made aware of the dangers of the machinery they work with and that dangerous moving parts of machinery are guarded. If this had been the case here Melissa Graham would not have suffered such a horrendous incident."
Illustration used is from the S*A*F*E* Startrange of safety education resources created using characters from the hit Twentieth Century Fox TV series and film The Simpsons. For further details please contact Abeceder.
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