Skip hire company fined after employee’s arm was crushed in a conveyor belt

A Bristol based skip hire company has been fined after an employee sustained crush injuries to his arm.

Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard that on 30 May 2018, an employee of the skip hire company Bateman Skips Ltd was asked to repair a conveyor belt feeding the picking station. He was injured when his arm was drawn into the mechanism whilst realigning the belt. The employee was rescued by  the Fire & Rescue Service.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bateman Skips Ltd failed to ensure that the workforce was provided with adequate training and suitable safeguards for dealing with blockages and adjusting the equipment.

Bateman Skips Ltd of Broadmead Lane, Keynsham, Bristol pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,205.80.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Berenice Ray, said: “Those in control of work have a duty to assess the risks and devise safe methods of working  to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workforce.

“Employers must ensure that the power source of machinery such as this is isolated and physically locked off whenever the guards are removed.”

Source HSE Website 26 April 2022

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