Recycling firm sentenced over worker’s arm injury

GBN Services Ltd fined £28,000 after employee’s arm crushed in moving conveyor belt

A WASTE and recycling company has been fined for safety failings after a worker suffered crush injuries when his arm was caught in an unguarded moving conveyor belt at a site in Essex.

The employee of GBN Services Ltd was working at the company’s Maple River Industrial Estate premises, in Harlow, when the incident occurred on 29 May 2013.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard that the worker was attempting to realign the in-feed conveyor belt on a newly installed waste separating machine. Power to the machine had been turned off and a protective guard removed to allow access to the belt.

However, after finishing the task, the worker reactivated the power to the machine and his left arm was drawn into the belt. He suffered crush injuries but has now returned to work part-time on light duties.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found GBN Services Ltd, who have five recycling sites in the South East, had failed to implement their own isolation and lock-off procedures at the Harlow site.

Following its investigation into the incident, the HSE inspected GBN’s site in Southend and had to issue three Prohibition Notices immediately halting dangerous activity, plus a notice requiring specified improvements.

In addition, the court was told the company had previously been served with a number of enforcement notices, including one for a similar guarding failing at a site in London.

GBN Services Ltd were fined £28,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,777 after pleading guilty to breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Following the case, HSE Inspector Corinne Godfrey said: ‘Incidents involving unguarded machinery are all too common and the onus is on employers to ensure safe and robust systems of work are in place to protect workers from dangerous moving parts of machinery. GBN Services failed to heed previous advice from the HSE relating to conveyor guarding at their other sites.

‘Guards and safety systems are required for a reason, and companies have a legal duty of care to ensure they up to scratch and working effectively at all times. In this case, it was not even necessary to remove the conveyor guard to adjust the belt as the design meant the belt could be adjusted with the guard still in place. However, the worker was not aware as staff had not been trained to repair or maintain the machine.’