Skip-hire firm fined £50,000 for safety breach

Bristol-based Bateman Skips prosecuted after employee’s arm crushed by conveyor belt

A BRISTOL-based skip-hire company has been fined after an employee sustained crush injuries to his arm.

Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard that, on 30 May 2018, an employee of Bateman Skips Ltd was asked to repair a conveyor belt feeding a picking station. He was injured when his arm was drawn into the mechanism whilst realigning the belt. The employee was rescued by the Fire & Rescue Service.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bateman Skips failed to ensure that the workforce was provided with adequate training and suitable safeguards for dealing with blockages and adjusting the equipment.

Bateman Skips pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and were fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,205.80.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Berenice Ray said: ‘Those in control of work have a duty to assess the risks and devise safe methods of working to provide the necessary information, instruction, and training to their workforce.

‘Employers must ensure that the power source of machinery such as this is isolated and physically locked off whenever the guards are removed.’