Companies sentenced after worker is forced through 125mm gap

Date:

27 July 2011

Release No:

YH/109/11

A South Yorkshire engineering firm and a German machine supplier were today (27 July) sentenced for safety failings after a worker sustained horrific injuries but miraculously escaped with his life after being dragged through a gap no wider than a CD case.

Compass Engineering Ltd and Kaltenbach Ltd were jointly prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive following the incident at Whaley Road in Barugh Green, Barnsley, on 19 December 2008. Fines and costs totalling £115,000 were imposed on the two firms.

The machine that Matthew Lowe was forced into after peering into a space to check a line of work

Compass employee Matthew Lowe got caught on a computer controlled conveyer system for moving heavy steel beams after peering into an outlet point to check a line of work.

He was forced though an opening just 125mm wide between a moving measuring head and a wall, suffering injuries that have caused lasting physical and psychological damage.

His trauma included rupturing his stomach and bowel, breaking his back in two places, shattering his pelvis, and fracturing both hips, his right arm and several ribs.

A HSE investigation found there was no guarding in place to protect him from dangerous moving parts - a serious safety failing for both Compass and Kaltenbach.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that both parties were responsible for ensuring sufficient guarding was in place. The machine ultimately belonged to Compass Engineering after it was bought from new, but Kaltenbach installed and signed-off the equipment as being fit and ready for use.

HSE investigators also established that Matthew, then aged 23, was inexperienced in operating the machinery after being moved from a different line at the factory because of a lull in his regular workload. However, it was the lack of guarding that was deemed the decisive factor.

Compass Engineering Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in relation to the incident. The company was fined £45,000 and ordered to pay £24,000 in costs.

Kaltenbach Ltd, whose UK head office is based at Brunel Road, Bedford, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 6(1)(a) of the same legislation. The supplier was fined £30,000 with costs of £16,000.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Chris Chambers said:

"It still amazes me that Matthew is here to tell the tale of the trauma he endured back in December 2008.

"His survival is quite remarkable, but that shouldn't detract from the fact his life could easily have been lost because Compass Engineering and Kaltenbach ultimately failed to protect him when it mattered most.

"Had appropriate guarding been in place the incident could never have happened. While this prosecution will live long in the memory because of the shock details, I hope it serves as a reminder to those involved in manufacturing, processing and the supply of machinery of the need to prevent access to dangerous parts."

After the case, Matthew Lowe said:

"What matters most is that the industry learns from my experience. My life has changed forever and no matter how well I recover from my physical injuries I will still have the psychological impact of the accident hanging over me.

"I hope my case highlights the dangers posed by not following health and safety regulations. It still won't be able to put my life back to how it was before the accident but at least then it might prevent others from suffering in the future.

"Too many people are needlessly killed and injured in accidents at work. If hearing my story makes them think twice about safety and about the daily risks they face in the work place, then I'll be happy. I know more than most why that is so important - and I really hope that message gets through."

Incidents involving contact with moving machinery or objects are a prime cause of death and injury in the workplace, according to the latest HSE statistics. Further information about safeguarding machinery can be found online at www.hse.gov.uk

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.
2. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."
3. Section 6(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of any person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies any article for use at work to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article is so designed and constructed that it will be safe and without risks to health at all times when it is being set, used, cleaned or maintained by a person at work."

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Issued on behalf of the Health & Safety Executive by COI News & PR Yorkshire and the Humber