A London waste and recycling company, Cappagh Public Works Limited, was fined after an employee sustained severe crush injuries during maintenance work on a waste sorting machine.
On 11 September 2020, Grzegorz Poreba entered the waste sorting machine to repair the mesh of the hopper. However, the machine had not been isolated from all sources of energy before the work started and was inadvertently switched on while he was still inside.
As a result, Grzegorz was thrown onto the conveyor and trapped against the metal bridge and suffered multiple injuries that required 23 screws and two plates inside his body. He has not been able to returned to work since the accident.
An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Cappagh Public Works Limited had failed to provide suitable means to adequately isolate machinery from all sources of energy to prevent them from being switched on during maintenance, and the isolator switch was broken. The company also had no formal maintenance arrangements for the machinery.
At a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court on 20 October 2023, the company pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £260,000 and ordered to pay £4,358 in costs.
After the hearing, the HSE inspector Pippa Knott said:
"The fine imposed should underline to everyone in the waste industry that the courts, and HSE, take a failure to ensure that maintenance work is completed safely extremely seriously."
"Grzegorz is lucky to be alive and the incident has left a lasting impression on him.
"We will not hesitate to take action against companies which do not do all that they should to keep people safe."
