AN EMPLOYEE of a Louth packaging firm has been left disfigured and suffering “constant pain” after his arm was crushed as he was thrown over a machine while at work.
Through a solicitor, DS Smith Packaging Ltd, the UK’s leading supplier of corrugated packaging products which has two sites in Louth, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health And Safety At Work act at Skegness Magistrates Court.
The company also has a previous health and safety at work conviction following a fatal accident at its Northfields factory in Louth in 2005.
Emma Madeley, prosecuting for the Health And Safety Executive, said that on June 9, 2010, Daryl Bushnell was working at the Abbey Converters site on Fairfield Industrial Estate.
He had been with the company two weeks and was being trained by another colleague, Mr Telleson, who had been with the company for just over three weeks, to work on a semi-automatic re-winder as part of the process for making corrugated packaging.
The material, known as web, is fed into a machine and is then rotated on a spindle making corrugated card.
On the day of the accident, Mr Bushnell was operating the spindle while Mr Telleson operated the control panel.
They had been working this way for about two hours when Mr Bushnell got his hand stuck between the webbing and the spindle.
Mrs Madeley said: “Although Mr Telleson had not pressed the button, Mr Bushnell could not alert him. Both men were wearing ear plugs and Mr Telleson was facing the control panel.
“He could not see or hear there was a problem. He pressed the button and the spindle rotated on full speed.”
Mr Bushnell was thrown over the top of the machine and only came free when the webbing tore, falling on to the floor.
Mrs Madeley said: “Despite the force, he was able to walk away.
“The bottom part of his arm had snapped and was pointing inwards to his body.”
He had also suffered cracked ribs and spent three nights in hospital.
Mrs Madeley told the court that no guards were in place and that sensory equipment could have been installed to detect when someone was in the danger area.
She also told the court that it had become common practice for two operators to use the machine at the same time when, if only one person operated it, they would walk to the control panel, taking away the danger.
She also said the machinery was faulty and it had become common practice for operators to keep their hand on the spindle to hold the web in place until full rotation had started.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Bushnell, who was previously a joiner, said: “I think about this accident every day and keep reliving the shock of being thrown over the bar and how serious it could have been. The worse thing is I cannot lift my baby son without pain or weakness in my arm.”
He said he suffers constant pain and has been left self-conscious about the appearance of his arm.
Mr Bushnell was off work for a year and is now back with the company.
Since the accident, DS Smith has installed sensory guards on all the machines and has employed a member of staff specifically for training.
Paul Verrico, in mitigation, said: “The company believed they had adequate procedures in place. The management in Louth believed only one person was operating the machine as a general course. The issues around the mandrel (spindle) may have been known by the employees but not by the management in Louth. They had a spare for the machine in the warehouse – no one realised there was a problem with the grip.”
He said the company immediately put measures in place with modifications to the whole area and have reconfigured their approach to training.
He added the previous fatal accident happened at a different site and since then, the company nationally has reduced the number of accidents reported to the Health And Safety Executive by 60 per cent.
He said at the time of the incident, the Abbey Converters site had gone 1,406 days without any accidents.
The company will be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on a future date after magistrates felt they did not have the jurisdiction for sentencing.
source: thisislincolnshire.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment