Gwynn Davies-McTiffin Ltd – a waste recycling firm based in West Yorkshire – has been fined after pleading guilty to failing to rectify health and safety issues that resulted in the death of an employee.
Simon Brook, a father of six, had been carrying out his duties at the firm’s premises but was discovered with serious injuries at the bottom of a horizontal baling machine.
Bradford Crown Court heard that there were no witnesses to the incident, but Mr Brook’s legs were injured to such an extent that a doctor was required to amputate them on site.
50-year-old Mr Brook died two days later as a result of his injuries.
Following an inspection by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it was decided that the most likely explanation was that the deceased had been trying to clear a blockage in the machine with a steel pole, which was later found at the scene.
They concluded that Mr Brook was likely to have fallen into the hopper of the machine, which then cleared the blockage and caused it to automatically restart.
The court heard that HSE served a prohibition notice and improvement notice on the company immediately after the incident, due to their failure to have a safe system of work in place for removing blockages, and because there were insufficient safety guards in place.
Blockages frequently occurred at the company’s premises, and using a stick or pole to remove them was commonplace, according to reports by workers.
Gwynn Davies-McTiffin Ltd was fined £80,000 and ordered to cover costs of £40,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Andrea Jones, the HSE inspector who conducted the investigation regarding Mr Brook’s incident, said: “The risks of clearing blockages at baling machines are well known in the manufacturing industries, particularly in waste recycling industries.
“Adequate guarding of dangerous moving parts and the provision of safe systems of work including isolating and locking-off machinery are the basic principles for protecting employees.”