HSE prosecutes Wildmoor Quarry Products
Telford-based quarry company fined £30,000 after agency worker traps hand in machine
A QUARRYING company has been sentenced for safety breaches after an agency worker trapped his hand in machinery.
Redditch Magistrates’ Court heard how the injured person suffered a chipped bone in his wrist and a partial degloving injury to his right hand while he was cleaning a conveyor belt at Wildmoor Quarry, near Bromsgrove, in April 2016. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to adequately manage the risk of workers being injured when operating machinery. It was also found that guarding was unsuitable to prevent access by persons to dangerous parts of machinery.
Telford-based Wildmoor Quarry Products Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and were fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £11,174.17.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Quarries Inspector Catherine Pickett said: ‘This incident could so easily have been avoided by the company if it had provided adequate training and put in place safe working practices for cleaning and maintaining conveyor belts.
‘Duty holders have the responsibility to ensure all dangerous machinery has the appropriate level of guarding to enable safe operation and maintenance, including cleaning operations.’
