Cheltenham machine operator injured after safety mechanism is disabled

Date:

22 May 2012

A component engineering company in Cheltenham has been fined after an employee suffered head injuries on a machine that had a safety mechanism deliberately disabled.

Grzegorz Chylenski, 33, from Cheltenham, was working with a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machine at PG Components Ltd at the time of the incident on 22 August last year.

Cheltenham Magistrates' Court heard yesterday (21 May) that when Mr Chylenski reached into the open CNC machine to retrieve a dropped component, he was struck on the head by moving parts, suffering a fractured jaw and cuts to his face and ear.

On the day of the incident, the CNC machine had been programmed by one of the directors of PG Components and was running on a short cycle. The enclosed machine is fitted with a manufacturer's safety function that stops the machine running when its doors are opened. However, an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the safety mechanism had been disabled.

Bypassing the manufacturer's safety mechanism and operating the machine with the doors open allows for a quicker more efficient cycle, but poses a risk to the operator and anyone reaching inside.

Speaking after the prosecution, HSE inspector Dominic Goacher said:

"The law clearly states that employers have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their employees, which includes ensuring machinery and systems of work are safe.

"In this instance, PG Components Ltd clearly failed to ensure the safety of Mr Chylenski, with unfortunate consequences.

"This incident could have been avoided had the manufacturer's safety device not been bypassed. Allowing the CNC machine to be used in this state puts operators at serious risk of injury or even death."

PG Components (Cheltenham) Ltd, of Unit 1B, The Runnings, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £11,200 and ordered to pay £2,777.60 in costs and compensation to the injured party of £2,500.

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 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It is an offence for a person to contravene any requirement or prohibition imposed by an improvement notice or a prohibition notice (including any such notice as modified on appeal)."

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