HSE: Latest Prosecution Results: February Edition

Company fined after worker injured by 300kg batteries

A recycling company in West Yorkshire has been fined £120,000 after batteries weighing at least 300kg fell onto an employee and severely injured him. The man was working with two colleagues at Wastecare Limited’s site on North Dean Business Park, Halifax when he was struck by the batteries being recycled on 22 March 2019.

The three workers had been restacking the batteries that were stored in Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs) after it had toppled over. However, the FIBCs started to rip in front of them leading to the batteries falling on to one of the workers. He suffered a double compound fracture to his lower right leg, a fracture to the left tibia, a fractured right collar bone, some bruising to his ribs and a cut on his forehead.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Wastecare Limited failed to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of its employees at work. The site was overstocked, bags of batteries had been stacked in an unsafe manner and there was no specific documented risk assessments or safe systems of work for the correct stacking and storage of batteries. This was not an isolated incident.

Wastecare Limited, of Normanton Industrial Estate, Normanton, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay £4,937.39 in costs at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on 21 February 2024.

Engineering company fined after workers loses two fingers

An engineering firm in Perth has been fined £10,000 after an employee lost two of his fingers. The worker, employed by Edwards Engineering (Perth) Limited, had been carrying out maintenance work on a grain dryer at East of Scotland Farmers on 28 June 2020.

He inadvertently placed his hand into the blades of an unguarded rotary fan in the grain dryer. The fan was rotating at 1200 revolutions per minute when it came into contact with the worker’s hand. This led to his little and ring fingers being amputated. He was off work for seven weeks following the incident.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into this incident found Edwards Engineering (Perth) Limited had failed to risk assess the task that the employees were required to undertake. On the day of this incident, there was no risk assessment for the work to be done nor was there any safe working procedure.

Edwards Engineering (Perth) Limited, Glenearn Road, Perth pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22 of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £10,000 at Perth Sheriff Court on 16 February 2024.

Farmer fined after friends had to climb tree to escape cow attack

A woman and her friend had to climb up a tree to escape an attack by more than a dozen cows on a public right of way in North Yorkshire.

Janicke Tvedt and David Hood had set out on a popular circular walk from Masham with pet Labrador Goose, who was on his lead, on 25 July 2021. Part of their walk took them across the fields and public rights of way near Shaws Farm.The farmer responsible has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as a result.

After entering a field off Foxholme Lane, the pair noticed several cattle in a field the path cut across, including cows with calves, so decided to give them a wide berth, passing through a narrow opening in a hedge. However, as they did, they then spotted a lone cow with two calves, and within seconds their dog was attacked.

Although they all managed to get away, they were soon cornered by other cows and 57-year-old Ms Tvedt was knocked to the ground and trampled. She was helped up by her friend, but at a nearby tree they found themselves surrounded by around 15 cows and had to climb a tree to escape a further attack.

Ms Tvedt was airlifted to hospital suffering seven broken ribs, hoof marks on her chest and legs, a broken thumb, and life changing severe internal injuries that required emergency surgery. She remains severely restricted in her mobility almost three years on, but is keen to share her experience to help raise awareness of the dangers posed by cattle in fields with public rights of way.

“I had the imprints of hoof marks, bruises, cuts and grazes all over my body,” she said.

“I was convinced that if I fell asleep, I would never wake up.

“I still have anxiety when on walks in the countryside and am always on alert for the presence of cattle.

“We live in a rural community and there are lots of footpaths around the fields in the area and I do not want other peoples lives to be at risk.

“I want to ensure the emphasis of my story is to improve awareness of the dangers of cows, particularly those in fields with footpaths.

“I am determined not to take on the mantle of being a victim as it’s disempowering.”

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that livestock were being kept in a field with a public right of way across it and insufficient measures were taken to protect members of the public from cattle and calves. A sign warning the public of the cattle had been destroyed and not replaced.

Cows are known are known to be protective of their calves and unpredictable. They can pose a risk to walkers, especially to those with dogs.

Key considerations for farmers and landowners include:

• where possible avoid putting cattle, especially cows with calves, in fields with public access.
• do all that they can to keep animals and people separated, including erecting fencing (permanent or temporary) e.g. electric fencing.
• Assess the temperament of any cattle before putting them into a field with public access.
• Any animal that has shown any sign of aggression must not be kept in a field with public access.
• Clearly sign post all public access routes across the farm. Display signage at all entrances to the field stating what is in the field (cows with calves / bulls).

Martin Falshaw of Falshaw Partners, Shaws Farm, Swinton, Ripon, North Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (2) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined £770.50 and ordered to pay £4,539 in costs.

Bedding manufacturer fined after employees suffer serious injuries

A bedding manufacturer has been fined more than £250,000 after two of its employees were seriously injured during separate incidents at its site in Rochdale. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Sartex Quilts and Textiles Limited following the incidents, which saw both workers undergo amputations. HSE inspector Elena Pickford described the injuries sustained by the workers as “serious and avoidable”.

The first incident took place on 29 March 2020 and involved a 32-year-old employee from Burnley. On his first day working on the line, he was instructed to clean the measuring wheel on a cutting machine. He climbed onto the conveyer belt, however the cutting machine had not been properly isolated from all sources of power and the machine’s clamp came down, trapping the employee’s left hand and causing the circular saw to move. The saw was brought to a stop by another employee who pressed the emergency stop button. Unfortunately, this was not in time and resulted in the worker having three fingers amputated from his left hand.

The worker said in his victim personal statement: “Prior to this incident, I was a healthy, happy and active person. At the time I had one very young son, now I have two children. I try not to expose my left hand too much to my children when I am playing with them or when they are in my company. I do not talk about the incident with my children. When I am out and about in public, I try to keep my injured hand out of the public view.”

On 22 October 2021, a second Sartex Quilts and Textiles employee was involved in an incident while operating a quilting machine. The 51-year-old, from Rochdale, had noticed a fallen casing and attempted to place it onto the back of the machine while it was being operated.

However, his gloves became tangled in the machine, causing his right hand to be dragged in. This caused lacerations and crush injuries to his right hand and resulted in the tips of two of his fingers to be amputated.

HSE inspectors Leanne Ratcliffe and Elena Pickford investigated the incidents in 2020 and 2021 respectively and found Sartex Quilts and Textiles Limited did not guard the machinery and did not implement suitable and sufficient procedures to isolate machinery from power.

Sartex Quilts and Textiles Limited, of Castle Mill, Queensway, Rochdale, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £251,250 and ordered to pay £6,862.63 in costs at Manchester & Salford Magistrates’ Court on 14 February 2024.

Farming company fined £320,000 after death of “much loved” family man

A company involved in fruit and vegetable production has been fined £320,000 after a man “who always put family first” was killed at a site in Burscough.

Francis Schlachter, known as Frank, suffered severe head injuries when he fell from a skip at a farm operated by M.A.Forshaw Limited on 3 January 2020. The 64-year-old from Southport was described as ‘a rock’ by his wife of 35 years Linda, who said how much he would be missed by his friends and family.

“I have lost my soul mate,” Linda said.

“He was a gentleman through and through, who will live on in our hearts and memories forever.

“It is the little things in life that you take for granted, which are greatly cherished now he’s gone and they mean the absolute world.

“Frank was my rock. He was kind, dependable and always put his family first. Since his passing, I have had a fair share of trials and tribulations to encounter and these have been a great challenge without the support of a beloved husband.

“We have all suffered the loss and it will be embedded in our bones forever.

“No man should go to work and never return home after a day of hard work.”

Frank had been working at the site off Marsh Moss Lane, tipping food waste into a skip from a container attached to a forklift truck (FLT). The container could not be securely attached to the FLT, which was known to detach from the vehicle during the procedure. As Frank attempted to manually assist in the operation, he was standing on top of the skip when the container slipped from the FLT causing him to fall to the ground, resulting in fatal head injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that M.A.Forshaw Limited of Heatons Bridge Farm, Scarisbrick, West Lancashire, had not fully assessed the risks involved in this daily task.  Had they done so, the dangers would have been identified. They also failed to maintain equipment in safe working order and to properly instruct staff in safe working practices.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They were fined £320,000 and were ordered to pay £4,574 costs at a hearing at Wirral Magistrates’ Court on 1 February 2024.

Worktops firm fined after repeated failures to protect employees

A Stockport-based stone worktop manufacturer has been fined £26,000 for repeatedly putting its workers at risk. Granite & Marble Shop Ltd failed to implement safe working practices despite warnings from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The company consistently put their employees at risk from serious injury by failing to adequately guard dangerous machinery at their site in Roland Road, Reddish.

A HSE inspector visited the site in 2019 and enforcement action was taken to have the appropriate guards installed, and to introduce daily checks, to ensure  these were in place and functioning correctly. However, when an inspector returned to the site on 18 August 2021, the guarding measures that had been put in place were broken or disabled – once again placing employees in danger.

A HSE investigation found that The Granite & Marble Shop Ltd of Cheadle Place Stockport Road, Cheadle, Cheshire, had failed to properly manage, supervise, and monitor the control measures that had been put in place, in order to ensure that guards were being used as intended.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and were fined £26,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,708 at a hearing in Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 31 January 2024. The prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Sam Crockett.

Textiles firm fined £60,000 after worker’s arm dragged into machine

A textiles company has been fined £60,000 after a man broke his arm when it was dragged into machinery at a site near Chorley. The employee, a man from Blackrod in Greater Manchester, suffered serious injuries to his right arm in the incident at the factory operated by Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co. Limited in Market Street, Adlington, on 20 June 2022.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the man had been operating a large fabric spooling machine when a brake malfunctioned. During his attempt to manually slow the rotation of the machine, his sleeve became caught up with an exposed grooved spindle and his right arm was drawn into the mechanism. It became twisted by the rotation of the machine which broke both major bones in the forearm and caused serious tissue damage.

Despite the company being aware of the risk posed by the moving spindle, they failed to either remove or suitably guard this part of the machinery. As a result of his injuries, the man, who was right-handed, spent four nights in hospital and was unable to return to work for six months.

Preston Magistrates Court heard that Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co. Limited of Adlington Works, Market Street, Adlington, Lancashire had neither guarded nor removed the exposed grooved spindle despite being aware of the risk it posed to employees.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were fined £60,000 and was ordered to pay £2.147 costs at a hearing at Preston Magistrates Court on 31 January 2024.