North Lincolnshire company fined £45,000 after worker suffers life-changing injuries

Plasterboard recycling company, Northern Waste Group Ltd, has been sentenced after a worker became entangled in the unguarded tail drum of a conveyor.

Sheffield Magistrates court heard how, on 16 January 2017, a worker was engaged in cleaning duties around a conveyor when he put his arm into the moving machinery without turning it off resulting in his left arm becoming entangled. The worker suffered a spiral fracture and an open wound to his left upper arm. Surgery to restore the blood supply to his arm was unsuccessful resulting in the arm being amputated.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found  the company had failed to ensure the guard that had been in place on the conveyor was working and could not be easily removed.

Northern Waste Group Ltd (formerly known as Northern Plasterboard Recycling Ltd) of Park Farm Road, Foxhills Industrial Estate, Scunthorpe, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11 (1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £45,000 with £6,247.25 costs

After the hearing, HSE inspector Carol Downes commented: “This case highlights the importance of ensuring that dangerous moving parts of machinery are guarded.
“The incident could so easily have been avoided by having suitable guarding on the machine and appropriate safe working practices for cleaning.”