A northeast British engineering firm was recently fined for deliberately compromising the safety guards on machinery for production reasons.
South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard H. Mullins (Earby) Limited, which produces precision engineered components, used Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines as part of the production process, including machining centers, milling machines and drilling machines.
The guards on the machines comprised a sliding door which is interlocked. In February this year, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector found the interlocks had been deliberately defeated on three CNC machining centers and a CNC milling machine and the interlock was broken ona CNC drilling machine.
HSE prosecuting told the court this action allowed employees to access dangerous parts of the machines during automatic CNC operations leading to a risk of serious injury.
The court heard the company had been served with HSE Improvement Notices following an inspection in 2008 and a letter sent in 2012 highlighting similar issues.
Mullins (Earby) Limited of Western Rd, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and were fined just over $21,000 with $2,245 in costs, respectively.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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