Company Held Guilty for Severed Fingers of its Employee
In January 2009, a female employee of Queen of Hearts (UK) Ltd became a victim of an accident that severed two fingers of her left hand. The employee was cleaning a sponge cake icing machine (fondant enrober) at the end of the working day when she pushed her left hand inside the machine in the process. As she did so, her hand hit an auger and two of her fingers were severed from her hand.
An HSE investigation found that the accident was a result of the negligence of the company, which never paid any attention to the dangers its employees were exposed to while handling its machines. The machine had an instruction manual that stated that before cleaning it, the power should be disconnected from the machine. However, the company never bothered to pass on the information to the employees and thus the victim was cleaning it with the power connected, as that was the easiest way to clean.
HSE found that if the company had considered assessing the risks involved in using its machinery, it could have easily averted the accident.
HSE instituted legal proceedings before Oxford Magistrates Court for the infringement of Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3 (1) (a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Queen of Hearts (UK) Ltd was held guilty by the court and asked to pay £6,000 and costs of suit amounting to £2,751.
Companies need to be sure that they are giving the correct instructions with effective policies around health and safety decisions. Workplace Law is a major provider of accredited health and safety training, with well established study programmes for IOSH and NEBOSH courses covering a full range of training from risk assessment to fire warden training to ensure organisations meet their basic commitments to providing a safe work environment for staff.
