Greater Manchester Waste Ltd have been fined a total of £56,750 at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, after pleading guilty to three charges related to an incident where an employee suffered a serious hand injury while using an industrial piece of machinery. The worker had all the fingers on his left hand amputated, including the tip of his thumb, and the flesh was being ripped off (known as de-gloving). The incident occurred on 18 December 2005, when his hand was drawn into an in-running nip on a rotary screen.
Health and Safety Inspector Tom Merry said, "This was a routine task that went wrong with tragic consequences. The employee was able to gain access to the dangerous parts of a piece of heavy machinery, losing the fingers of his left hand. His hand was also de-gloved. This case highlights the importance of undertaking proper risk assessments relating to work activities in order to identify the measures that need to be taken to protect the health and safety at work of employees." An adequate risk assessment would have identified the need for better guarding to prevent access to the dangerous parts of the machine. The company pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations SI 1999/3242 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations SI 1998/2306.
