Firms operating potentially dangerous machinery must ensure staff are properly trained and equipment is adequately protected or face stiff penalties, according to insurance company Aviva.
The warning follows a recent case in which a worker at a car products plant lost three fingers while using a powder mixing machine with an unguarded open hatch without appropriate training. The firm concerned was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of more than £6,000.
In another case, a 16-year-old employee from Sheffield suffered three partially severed fingers after using a rolling press with an inadequate guard at the front.
“Employers have a duty to ensure plant and equipment is safe to use,” said Phil Grace, liability risk manager at Aviva. “But, yet again, we are seeing the failure of an employer to take the necessary steps which, in this case, should have involved carrying out a risk assessment and implementing proper controls. And in the case of machinery, that generally involves fitting guards.”
Grace added that telling staff about the dangers of a piece of kit was often not enough. Unless safety precautions were taken, workers could still fall into bad habits. “The trouble with this is that employees may begin to ignore the dangers if they are lucky enough to avoid injury the first time, or subsequent times. But, sooner or later, things go wrong and an accident will happen.
“Proper guarding, securely bolted to the machine and interlocked guards that ensure the machine has to be turned off before access can be obtained will ensure that machines are safe to use.”