A worker has suffered severe burns to his arms after attempting to clear a blockage in an unguarded machine.
The incident occurred at SGL Carbon Fibers, a Highland manufacturing company, which has been fined for safety failings for the incident which occurred on 13 February 2011.
Mr Miroslaw Grzybowski, 37, was taken to hospital with severe burns to the back of both his wrists and a first degree burn to the inside of his right forearm. The following week he underwent surgery to have skin grafts on his wrists and spent a week in hospital before returning to work with the company.
SGL Carbon Fibers Ltd, of Muir of Ord Industrial Estate, Great North Road, Muir of Ord, Easter Ross, was fined £10,000 after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Following the case, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Mac Young, said: “This incident was entirely foreseeable and therefore entirely preventable. Where an employee is able to gain access to dangerous moving parts, there is a risk of coming into contact with them. SGL Carbon Fibers Ltd should have identified the risk posed to workers on this particular production line and made sure it was adequately guarded as they had done on other lines. Suitable guarding coupled with adequate information, instruction and supervision would have played a large part in avoiding this incident.”
