Packaging firm fined £16k for accident
Eastern Daily Press.
July 19, 2005 07:30
South Norfolk really doesn’t need a bad press like this…
A packaging company was yesterday fined £16,000 following an accident in which an employee suffered serious burns after trapping his hand in a machine.
Mondi Packaging (GB) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws at its Pulham St Mary factory near Diss, known as Bux Corrugated.
The company, recognised as the industry leader for its health and safety practices, had failed to complete a risk assessment or provide adequate training and supervision for employees for the manual rethreading of part of a corrugating machine at Bux Corrugated.
Thetford Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday that on July 8 last year, operator Trevor Smith had been trying to feed more paper into the machine using a retaining pin jammed against one of the rollers, while his supervisor restarted the machine.
The handle of the pin became wedged in the machine and Mr Smith’s fingers were trapped against the hot plate. The 44-year-old from Long Stratton was prised free and taken to hospital for treatment.
Ruth Barber, for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said he had since undergone “a number of skin grafts and operations to repair the damage”.
Miss Barber said the company reported the accident and an HSE investigator visited on August 16, finding revised practices were in place and that it had accepted that the rolls should be stationary during manual rethreading.
Two subsequent visits from the investigator saw safety switches added to the machine. On February 15, 2004, Ed Maxim, the firm’s UK safety manager, was interviewed under caution.
David Lewis, mitigating, said Mondi took over 20 Danisco factories, of which the Pulham St Mary site was one, in September 2001. The company paid £150,000 on bringing its other former Danisco factories up to standard.
Mr Lewis added it had been identified as “outstanding in health and safety”, gaining 10 awards from the Corrugated Packaging Association.
The company was ordered to pay a total £6029.60 in legal and investigation costs.
After the sentence David Gregory, HSE investigator, said: “The company produced best-practice guidance and are regarded as one of the best on safety in the industry.
“However, they failed to follow their own guidance on employee provisions.”
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By: Deano - 5th August 2005 at 22:02
I am a Shift Manager at a packaging company, H&S is No 1 priority, we are regulated to the hilt, every single thing has to have risk assessments in place, it’s a logistical nightmare, when someone has a minor accident we have to fill out so much paper work it’s unbelievable, if anyone has done NEBOSH training they will have their eyes opened to how much employers nowadays have to cover theirselves for every outcome, we run a zero tolerance on H&S, it is a disiplinable offence if you so much as forget to wear any P.P.E, I guess this has all come about as a direct result of litigation Britain, it is costing companies millions of pounds for insurance policies, and most can’t afford it.
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August 5, 2005 at 1:36 pm