Pirelli Tyres Ltd have been fined £512,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,820 after two employees had their arms broken by the same machine on two separate occasions.
The first accident occurred in November 2013 at a tyre factory in Carlisle, where an employee was loading the stripline machine when his arm was pulled in by a roller. Two years later, in August 2015, another employee was trying to make an adjustment to the machine while it was running, when his arm was also pulled in.
An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the machine used at that factory lacked appropriate guarding and despite the first accident in 2013, no improvements were made.
Pirelli Tyres Ltd pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations SI 1998/2306 for failing to install appropriate guarding on the in-house built machine, which caused injury.
After the court hearing, HSE inspector Matthew Tinsley said: "Dangerous parts of machinery must be guarded to prevent access. Machines that are built in-house for a company's own use must meet modern guarding standards, just as if they were going to be placed on the open market. This machine should have been appropriately guarded from the first use, but failing that, the first incident should have prompted a thorough review of the machine to identify what additional guarding was needed and appropriate action taken."
