CPM Group fined £660,000 following death of worker

Precast concrete company prosecuted after employee fatally injured when trapped by machinery

SOMERSET-based precast concrete product manufacturers CPM Group Ltd have been fined £660,000 after a 43-year-old man was fatally injured when he became trapped by machinery.

Bath Magistrates’ Court heard how Jeffery Baulf, a maintenance fitter employed by CPM, was carrying out maintenance work while the machine was not isolated. A conveyor started moving and Mr Baulf suffered fatal injuries when he became trapped.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on 3 October 2016, found the company had not implemented procedures to ensure machinery was isolated before starting maintenance work.

The Court heard that Mr Baulf’s supervisor authorized the maintenance task but the required control measures were not checked before work started, as the procedure required.

In general, access to dangerous moving parts of the machines at the site was controlled by enclosures around the danger zones, with access into these enclosures controlled by a key system that should have made sure the machinery was isolated and safe to work around when people entered the enclosure.

However, the HSE told the Court that when the site was inspected after the incident a spare key was discovered, which meant that access to machinery in the incident area was possible without turning off and isolating the machine.

During the investigation the HSE also found there was insufficient supervision over the isolation of machines; CPM’s procedures for safe maintenance work were not consistently understood or applied, pointing to deficiencies in instruction and training; it was common for people to access dangerous areas while machines were running; and there were other spare keys that were easily accessible.

CPM Group Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and were fined £660,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,563.57.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Leo Diez said: ‘This tragic incident, which led to the avoidable death of a man, was easily preventable and the risk should have been identified.

‘Employers should make sure they apply effective control measures to minimize the risk from dangerous parts of machinery. Maintenance work should only be carried out when the piece of plant/equipment is isolated and confirmed safe. There should not be any spare keys to captive key systems.’