Company fined over fall inside machine; Worker was 'just following practice'.Byline: SIMON Simon, in the Bible. 1 One of the Maccabees. 2 or Simon Peter: see Peter, Saint. 3 See Simon, Saint. 4 Kinsman of Jesus. 5 Leper of Bethany in whose house a woman anointed Jesus' feet. DUDMAN A COVENTRY telecommunications company See telecom company. has been fined pounds 7,500 and ordered to pay pounds 2,000 compensation after a worker climbed inside a punch press punch press Machine tool that changes the size or shape of a piece of material, usually sheet metal, by applying pressure to a die in which the workpiece is held. The form and construction of the die determine the shape produced on the workpiece. machine to free a sheet of metal and fell. The man suffered "serious" bruising to his head, ribs and legs and had to take six weeks off work to recover from his injuries. The incident happened on February 19 of this year at the premises of Viasystems EMS-UK Ltd, in Uxbridge Avenue, Copsewood, Coventry. The company, formerly part of the Marconi group and bought by Viasystems in 2000, was charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 with failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of its employees. The company, which employs about 200 people, pleaded guilty. It was also ordered to pay pounds 3,140 court costs court costs n. fees for expenses that the courts pass on to attorneys, who then pass them on to their clients or, in some kinds of cases, to the losing party. . Munera Sidat, prosecuting for the HSE HSE House HSE Health and Safety Executive HSE Helsinki School of Economics HSE Hamilton Southeastern (High School) HSE Health, Safety & Environment HSE Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia) , told the court how the worker had at first tried to free the sheet by climbing up a set of mobile ladders, reaching in with a pole. When this attempt failed, he climbed over a 6ft 5in safety fence and into the machine. Miss Sidat said: "He was in the machine and was kicking the sheet of metal which was jammed. He had one foot on the sheet and was kicking it with the other when the machine suddenly moved and he fell. "The machine was never designed for people to climb into, yet this had become common practice by the operators and the ladders and pole were next to the machine for such incidents. "No risk assessment was carried out for this practice, which shows a major flaw in the management process." David Egar, in mitigation for Viasystems, told the court that the company was currently in financial difficulty following a downturn in the market and asked magistrates to consider this when determining a fine. He also told the court the machine had not been used since the incident and full health and safety training had been carried out by all employees following the accident. He said Viasystems put health and safety at the top of its business agenda but did not fully appreciate the risk of the action described in court. "They are guilty of simply not being aware, rather than ignoring a dangerous practice", he said. |
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