The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have stressed the importance to employers of the need to make sure workplace risks are properly assessed and that suitable protective equipment is not only provided, but worn. This follows the prosecution of Wildmoor Quarry Products Ltd after an incident in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire when a 30kg lump of sandstone caused serious head injuries to a worker.
On 21 March 2007, an employee was working at a power-operated machine in the company's Sandy Lane Quarry when a lump of sandstone fell approximately 6 metres and struck him on the head. The employee, who was not wearing head protection at the time of the incident, received serious head injuries.
Speaking after the case, HSE investigating inspector Ian Williamson said, "It's a fundamental expectation that employees should work in safety. A quarry remains one of the most dangerous environments, with over 2,700 injuries since 2000, and working there calls for vigilance by employers and workers alike. Assessing risks and implementing safe systems of work, particularly on moving machinery, often only requires simple control measures but in this case, screens which may have prevented the boulder from entering the machine were not sufficiently maintained. It is also obvious that workers should wear suitable head protection in an environment where they are large, heavy materials swiftly moving along at high level."
Wildmoor Quarry Products Ltd was fined a total of £8,520 at Bromsgrove and Redditch Magistrates' Court on 23 April 2008. They pleased guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
For further information, see:
