A Liverpool-based waste and recycling company was fined and its Director jailed at the end of October, following the death of a 39 year old worker.
Gaskell's (North West) Limited and its Director were sentenced both for their part in the worker's death in 2010, and for continuing to operate the same baling machine in a dangerous manner for up to five years after the death.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how the worker died whilst working at Gaskell's Waste Services in 2010. The company was operating a machine used to compress recyclable and waste materials into small bales which had a defeated interlock system, enabling a worker to enter the machine while it was still in operation.
The employee had entered the baling chamber of the machine to clear a blockage of waste materials that had caused the machine to stop. The machine automatically activated, resulting in the employee suffering haemorrhaging, shock and severe traumatic injury to both legs. He died on the way to hospital.
A joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Merseyside Police found that the baler's safety interlock system had been defeated two months earlier. Poor maintenance of the machine meant it required frequent operator intervention.
HSE inspectors visited the site in 2015, having been informed that the company continued to use the same machine with further critical safety issues, five years after the death. The machine could be operated whilst the guarding was open, meaning it could still run and production could continue with the operator being put at serious risk of injury. This was noted as a serious aggravating factor by the Judge upon sentencing.
Gaskell's pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company has been fined £700,000 and ordered to pay costs of £99,886.57. Gaskell's Director, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was sentenced to eight months in prison.
HSE Inspector Phil Redman commented that "this incident was completely avoidable and it is inconceivable that Gaskell's continued to operate the same dangerous machine in the way it did for as long as five years after this incident."
"Companies should be aware that HSE will not accept the defeating of safety systems in order to maintain production and will not hesitate to take action against those that fall below that required standards."
