High voltage shock lands stationery firm with fine

Date:

1 June 2010

Release No:

COILON/0106

A stationery manufacturer has been fined after admitting exposing a worker to a high voltage shock that left him permanently disabled.

The man was investigating a fault on a plastic welding machine at Chart Design Ltd in Wembley in June 2007 when his fingers came into contact (or very close contact) with components carrying several thousand volts.

The shock severely burned his right hand and forearm, and damaged several muscles. He was hospitalised for 14 days and has since had to undergo skin grafts. He has not regained full use of his right hand and has been unable to return to work.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident revealed that guard panels which should have prevented access to live circuits had been removed. Inspectors discovered that no record of maintenance checks was kept for any of the machines at the factory.

The company also had no first aiders.

Chart Design Ltd - of Luxton Close, Dury Way, Wembley - pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at the City of London Magistrates' Court. It was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,330.

HSE Inspector Kerry Williams said: "A man's life has been turned upside down because of entirely preventable and basic safety failings. It is the responsibility of all managers to make sure that all maintenance work is properly planned and recorded and that adequate guards are fitted to all machinery when it is in use.

"If these simple things had been done it is unlikely that he would have suffered these horrendous injuries. But this incident could have been much worse - instead of losing the feeling in his fingers, he could have lost his life."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, they should: ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their all his employees, so far as is reasonably practicable." This includes planning, risk assessment, implementation of controls and adequate supervision.
3. The court also ordered Chart Design to pay a separate £15 victim surcharge, the proceeds of which will be spent on services for victims and witnesses.

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