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A company based in Newry in Northern Ireland has been fined more than £5,000 after an employee suffered a serious accident whilst at work.
The incident took place at the Natural World Products’ waste composting premises in June 2010, when a 20-year-old employee was at work. The man injured himself after coming into contact with a rotating conveyor drum on a screening device. The machine was unguarded at the time.
The man became trapped, and as a result of his injuries, he had to have his arm amputated in hospital.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and found that the guard on the machine had been made smaller, in order for repair staff to be able to access the machine whilst it was running. There were also issues with the company’s risk assessment for that particular piece of machinery, as well as the health and safety training the maintenance teams had undergone.
At a recent hearing, Natural World Products was fined £5,000 for breaching health and safety laws. The HSE’s Kevin Campbell said:

“It is essential that companies identify and address hazards within the workplace.
“Measures must be taken to control and limit access to dangerous moving parts of machines.
“Companies must ensure that maintenance teams are trained in identifying missing or defective guards and the importance of replacing guards that are removed during maintenance operations.”