Employer Prosecuted after Employee Trapped in Machine Dies
November 26th, 2009
Veetee Rice Limited became yet another employer to be fined for neglecting employee safety at workplace. The company had failed to follow safety regulations about blocking access of employees to dangerous parts of one of its machines, which resulted in an accident where a worker died of his injuries.
The accident occurred on 11 September 2006, when worker Balwinder Singh Aulkh accessed a rice silo and his leg became entangled in the underfloor screw conveyor, which is a piece of machinery used to take rice from the silo. The resultant injury was so severe that Aulkh died on the spot.
Investigations by HSE revealed that the company had taken no measure to block access to dangerous parts of the machinery, in this case the underfloor screw conveyor. This could have been done by the simple act of fitting a padlock on the access hatch to ensure that there was no access to the conveyor until it was electrically isolated.
HSE registered a case against the company for breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. At Medway Magistrates’ Court on 10 September 2009, the company pleaded guilty and it was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court. As part of the punishment, the company was ordered to pay a fine of £140,000 and £20,500 as costs.
Mike Walters, HSE Principal Inspector in
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