Ex-serviceman's arm severed at Hull recycling site

Date:

1 June 2011

Release No:

Y&H/83/11

A Hull man, who returned unscathed from active service with the Army in Bosnia, was maimed for life at work as a 'civvy' back home, a court has heard.

Ray Wright, 34, had his right forearm severed in a baling machine incident while working at the Transwaste Recycling site at Hessle Dock in April 2009.

The baling machine used to compact waste cardboard at the former Hessle Dock site of Transwaste Recycling & Aggregates

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuting site operators, Transwaste Recycling and Aggregates Limited, told Beverley Magistrates' Court the original protective guard to the baling machine had been damaged and replaced with a makeshift one.

As the replacement was not designed for the machine, it allowed access to the baling ram when the machine was operating.

The court heard Mr Wright tripped on a scaffold tube in front of the machine and put his arm out to break the fall. However, his arm went into the baling chamber and was severed between his wrist and elbow. Surgery to re-attach the limb was unsuccessful and he now has a prosthetic limb.

Mr Wright, who operated the machine regularly, had been used to working alone on site as a few weeks earlier the company had moved the business to a purpose-built facility in Melton, East Yorkshire, leaving only baling machine and an operator at the site in Hessle Dock.

HSE told magistrates that Mr Wright had been working alone at the site at the time, and had struggled to get help after the incident.

In shock and badly injured, he attempted to ring for help on his mobile phone but dropped it to the ground and the battery fell out. Unable to replace the battery he ran to get help from a neighbouring company. He spotted a van driver and alerted him to his plight lifting his severed arm to show the disbelieving driver he was severely hurt and in desperate need of help. Moments later, he passed out and an ambulance was called.

Mr Wright, a qualified mechanic and HGV driver who served in the Royal Logistics Corps, was part of a UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia in 1999/2000. He has since returned to work with Transwaste in a different job.

HSE Inspector Chris Chambers, who investigated the incident, said:

"This was a devastating injury and is one that will have a life-long impact on Mr Wright. But equally shocking is that it could so easily have been avoided had the company made sure the dangerous moving parts of this machine were properly guarded, by the device supplied with the machine - not by some totally unsuitable alternative.

"The firm operates in a high-risk industry which recognises the well-known dangers of baling machines and the history of serious and fatal injuries associated with their use. Worker safety should be paramount. All companies should make sure guards and protective devices are the correct ones and are maintained in efficient working order.

"Our investigation revealed a health and safety consultancy business, used by the firm for several months prior to the incident, had undertaken a risk assessment on the machine but this failed to identify the obvious guarding defects. We would strongly advise companies wanting to appoint consultants to use the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR), set up this year, to find a suitably-qualified consultant in their area."

After the hearing, Ray Wright, said:

"The injuries I suffered at work have had a serious impact on my life and I can no longer do a lot of the things I used to take for granted. Before the accident I used to repair my car and do DIY, help out friends and family and play sport. Now I even struggle to do simple things, such as cooking, eating and getting changed.

"I am determined to carry on with my life as best I can, in the circumstances, and am still working at Transwaste in a different job although every day is still a challenge."

Transwaste Recycling and Aggregates Ltd., of Melton Waste Park, Gibson Lane, Melton, East Yorkshire, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £6,408 costs after admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations.

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. Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states that: 'every employer shall ensure that effective measures are taken to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery or to any rotating stock-bar; or to stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery or rotating stock-bar before any part of a person enters a danger zone.

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