Firm fined £15,000 after factory worker is impaled
09:15 - 10/08/2010
Firm fined £15,000 after factory wor...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have prosecuted a Workington-based company after a steel cable shot straight through a worker’s leg, leaving him impaled.
A.C.P (Concrete) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Workington Magistrate’s Court. They were fined £15,000 and ordered to pay a further £6,638 in costs for the incident, which occurred at their factory in the Derwent Howe Industrial Estate on 19th March 2009.
The court heard that steel cables were threaded through concrete moulds and stretched to 2000lb tension when a grip securing one of the cables failed, resulting in a 200ft long steel cable being released. Factory worker Jamie Graham, aged 25, attempted to re-thread the cable but a second grip failed, releasing yet another 200ft long cable. The end of this second cable, which was 9mm wide, shot straight through Mr Graham’s right leg, leaving a hole in his shin.
Mr Graham, who lives in Cockermouth, was taken to hospital with the end of the cable embedded in his shin. He was in a full leg cast for six weeks and remained on crutches for a further four months after the accident. He still suffers from pain in his right leg.
The HSE investigation revealed that A.C.P did not have any system in place for inspecting and maintaining the grips, despite the fact that an average of eight grips failed each week at the factory. In addition to this, the company did not have a safe system of work in place for re-threading the steel cables or for fixing new grips onto cables when they failed. This meant that workers could be easily put in harm’s way while attempting to make repairs.
Commenting on the case, HSE Inspector Mike Griffiths said: “This terrifying incident should have been prevented. The lack of any inspection or maintenance of the grips meant that problems with them were only detected when a grip failed and that could sometimes result in a cable being released at high speed.
“[…] The company should have ensured that the task of re-threading the cables was properly assessed and that the significant risks to their employees were properly controlled.”
First Response Training can offer a wide range of health and safety training courses to help companies ensure that they are following safe systems of work and are not exposing their employees, or other members of the public, to unnecessary danger.
Operations Director, Perry Leeks, explains: “No worker should be placed in a position where they are unsafe and at risk of injury. Companies can take simple steps to ensure that they and their employees are operating in the safest manner possible, and that starts with training.
“We can offer a huge range of health and safety courses, from basic awareness in the Essentials of Health and Safety, to courses for managers and supervisors and IOSH-accredited courses including IOSH Working Safely and IOSH Managing Safely. We also have a number of more specialist courses depending on your business activity, such as COSHH Awareness. For more information, please contact us today and one of our sales team can talk you through your responsibilities and training options.”
A.C.P (Concrete) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Workington Magistrate’s Court. They were fined £15,000 and ordered to pay a further £6,638 in costs for the incident, which occurred at their factory in the Derwent Howe Industrial Estate on 19th March 2009.
The court heard that steel cables were threaded through concrete moulds and stretched to 2000lb tension when a grip securing one of the cables failed, resulting in a 200ft long steel cable being released. Factory worker Jamie Graham, aged 25, attempted to re-thread the cable but a second grip failed, releasing yet another 200ft long cable. The end of this second cable, which was 9mm wide, shot straight through Mr Graham’s right leg, leaving a hole in his shin.
Mr Graham, who lives in Cockermouth, was taken to hospital with the end of the cable embedded in his shin. He was in a full leg cast for six weeks and remained on crutches for a further four months after the accident. He still suffers from pain in his right leg.
The HSE investigation revealed that A.C.P did not have any system in place for inspecting and maintaining the grips, despite the fact that an average of eight grips failed each week at the factory. In addition to this, the company did not have a safe system of work in place for re-threading the steel cables or for fixing new grips onto cables when they failed. This meant that workers could be easily put in harm’s way while attempting to make repairs.
Commenting on the case, HSE Inspector Mike Griffiths said: “This terrifying incident should have been prevented. The lack of any inspection or maintenance of the grips meant that problems with them were only detected when a grip failed and that could sometimes result in a cable being released at high speed.
“[…] The company should have ensured that the task of re-threading the cables was properly assessed and that the significant risks to their employees were properly controlled.”
First Response Training can offer a wide range of health and safety training courses to help companies ensure that they are following safe systems of work and are not exposing their employees, or other members of the public, to unnecessary danger.
Operations Director, Perry Leeks, explains: “No worker should be placed in a position where they are unsafe and at risk of injury. Companies can take simple steps to ensure that they and their employees are operating in the safest manner possible, and that starts with training.
“We can offer a huge range of health and safety courses, from basic awareness in the Essentials of Health and Safety, to courses for managers and supervisors and IOSH-accredited courses including IOSH Working Safely and IOSH Managing Safely. We also have a number of more specialist courses depending on your business activity, such as COSHH Awareness. For more information, please contact us today and one of our sales team can talk you through your responsibilities and training options.”
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