A manufacturer of swimming pool covers has been fined after a worker suffered a degloving injury when his hand got caught between two power driven rollers of an extruder machine.
Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard how on the 21 February 2018, an employee at Plastipack Limited was injured, at the company site in St Leonards-on-Sea, when his hand got caught between two power driven rollers of an extruder machine while performing a manual intervention on the machine.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had, between 1 July 2012 and 21 February 2018, failed to ensure that the in-running nip point between the rollers of the machine was adequately guarded to prevent access.
Plastipack Limited of Wainwright House, Wainwright Close, St Leonards-on-Sea pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £30,000.00 and ordered to pay costs of £5842.30.
Speaking after the case HSE inspector Susie Beckett said “This injury was easily preventable, and the risk should have been identified. Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.”
