Worker crushed and burned by falling machinery
1 min read
A Hereford company that produces nickel alloys has incurred a fine and costs totalling £175,000 after an employee suffered life-threatening injuries when he was crushed and burned by falling machinery.
Foundryman Stephen Bond-Lewis was removing waste material from a metal casting machine at Special Metals Wiggin when part of it became detached, fell forward and pinned him against a nearby storage bin. The falling machinery weighed 964kg and had a temperature of between 100 and 250°C.
A second employee, Craig Sheehan, severed the tip of the ring finger on his left hand in the incident, in 2009, while trying to free him.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Special Metals Wiggin this month after an investigation found the method used to remove ingot moulds from the casting machine was unsafe.
Worcester Crown Court heard that it involved using overhead cranes to pull the moulds free, which damaged the bolts and their fixing points. This coupled with the company's failure to have a proper maintenance programme in place led to the mechanical failure of the machine.
An examination by HSE inspectors of 32 other casting machines in the same part of the factory found faults in every one.
Special Metals Wiggin was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay £55,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
