£140,000 fine following worker death
17 November 2009
Following health and safety breaches, a rice manufacturing company has been fined £140,000 following the death of a worker.
Following health and safety breaches, a rice manufacturing company has been fined £140,000 following the death of a worker.
The incident took place in September 2006 at Veetee Rice’s factory, when a worker was monitoring a rice silo, which contained an underfloor screw conveyor to transport the rice to the production line. The rice was emptying at a slower rate than usual so the worker entered the silo, via a side door to check for a blockage. However, the side door should have been locked, and the worker’s foot sank into the rice and his leg became trapped in the underfloor screw conveyor.
Colleagues tried to reverse the conveyor but were unable to free his leg. The emergency services then spent a number of hours trying to free him, but were even forced to amputate his leg at the scene. He subsequently died from shock while being transported to hospital.
The following day the HSE issued a Prohibition Notice, which instructed the firm to prevent access to the silo and another identical silo at the site.
This incident should not have happened. The rice company should have had a safety system in place, whereby access to the silo was prevented unless the screw conveyer was electrically isolated. This could have been as simple as a padlock.
Veetee Rice appeared in court on the 5th November 2009 and pleaded guilty to breaching reg. 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, for failing to install adequate machine guarding. In addition to the fine, it was ordered to pay £20,500 in costs.
In mitigation, the company said that this was an isolated incident and highlighted its previously clean safety record. Since the incident, it has fitted padlocks on to the silos and installed an interlock system, which isolates the moving parts of the machine when the side door is opened.
The level of fine and costs awarded in this case should act as a stark warning to all employers to take their responsibility for health and safety seriously.
Others must learn from this incident to help ensure that another, similar fatal accident does not happen again in the future.